So Much for My Happy Ending - Chapter 14
Author's Note: So...uhm...hi, I know it's been awhile (like over a month), I deeply apologize. I have not abandoned this story, I just started night school on top of my 40hr/wk job and actually touching a keyboard (even for facebook, half of this was written on my smartphone...) has not been in my daily schedule. If anyone has any suggestions for a good Android document app, (that works with FroYo 2.2 and a Motorola Flipside) I am all ears...or eyes, as I guess you'd type your response...
At any rate, I'm still writing more as this posts, but I came to a point that needed a page break, and I figured, if I need a POV page break, it may as well just be a chapter. Hope you like it. Also, a big Thank You to all the new story followers and reviewers while I've been on hiatus.
The still falling snow swirled around them as they ran. Rocket's ears were filled with only the rhythmic crunching of their boots and the ragged edges of their breathing. For a massive army, those creatures were certainly quiet.
Babydoll's fighting instinct was up as she kept track of the advancing mob in her periphery. Seeing her foes sent an adrenaline surge coursing through her, the blood singing in her veins and roaring in her ears. For the first time since the surgery, she felt in control of the world, master of her destiny. Her feet pelted the earth as she sped up, every step bringing her closer the item that she knew, deep down, would finally be the key to her freedom.
Another dark creature appeared in the corner of her eye, but this one was capped by a thatch of fiery orange hair. Rocket had caught up with her increased pace. Baby was glad that she was here. Rocket had proven her loyalty time and time again, seeking her out from a place she thought no one could ever find.
One day I will find you, and I'll finally know what I've been searching for.
But find it, Rocket had, and now they were here, on the cusp of everything, their goal almost within reach, their freedom almost won.
Their freedom. Together.
One day you will see me, like no others looked upon this face before.
She looked over at Rocket, whose face was a study in seriousness as she steadily loped forward at her side. Rocket's eyes caught her glance, and the façade cracked. She grinned at Babydoll. The excitement of the mission and the impending fight, as well as the sweet undercurrent of newfound emotions, was contagious, Babydoll felt a tug on her lips as she responded in kind.
The mouth of the cave began to loom larger as they neared their destination, but they weren't moving fast enough. For every step forward Rocket and Babydoll took, the advancing tide of darkness moved forward as well, the unsettling, eerie silence clinging to the mob all the while.
"Rocket!" Babydoll called out, causing her companion to turn, "We're not gonna make it without a fight." She stated, tilting her head toward the creeping line.
Rocket's face took on a cast of grim determination, as she nodded, confirming. "We'll fight them, all right, and we'll still make it."
Dreams, beneath the surface there's a world that no one sees.
Seeing the belief shining out of those hazel eyes was exactly the thing Babydoll needed. This was their world, after all, and damned if she was going to let this army stop her when no one else could.
A hideaway where I've got everything I need.
The white gap of snow between the coal dark mouth of the cave and the shade of the army was almost gone, Babydoll made her decision.
"Rocket, weapons hot!" She called, drawing the katana from its scabbard and unholstering her pistol, the charms tinkling against her skin in a familiar pattern. She felt the sandpaper ray skin bind against the bandages at her palm as she gripped the blade, the steel singing in contrast to the utter quiet of her foes.
"On it!" Rocket swung the machine gun out from across her back, saving her other weapons for when they actually went hand to hand. "Crowd control?" She queried.
Babydoll nodded. "Go for the eyes." She instructed, not knowing the nature of these creatures, but attacking that point had served her well thus far, in everything from steam powered zombie soldiers, to dragons and cyborgs.
The sharp bark of gunfire and a muzzle flash was Rocket's response.
One set of glittering eyes blinked out in a sea of rubies. Both women paused a moment to see the effects. The sheltering pile of tube worms pulled back and embedded themselves further within the mass, revealing the exposed shell of something that could have once been a man. Its death's head grin still cocked at them as the lifeless corpse fell to the ground. The sunken eye sockets were dark now, leeched of their unearthly fire, but they still stared onwards.
An involuntary shudder of disgust rippled through both girls at the sight. It was cut short when the dark seething mound rolled over the stilled corpse, no longer recruiting for the fight, but crushing it into the barren earth like so much refuse.
"Rocket." Babydoll called out, her voice quavering slightly. "There's too many, we can't both make it."
"NO!" She shouted back, stubborn as always, firing more shots into the advancing tide. "We both make it, or no one does, I'm not leaving you again."
Rocket turned away, unloading her clip into the endless torrent of targets, watching with satisfaction when each one fell, one less in an infinite legion.
"Rocket…" Babydoll called again. A single tear escaped as Rocket tried to ignore her, pulling the trigger instead of responding.
A hollow click was the gun's only response, its ammunition spent. Through with denial, Rocket moved on to bargaining.
"You go, I can-" She faltered, loosing her grip on the now spent UMP45 and letting it swing at her side. She knew her bayonet and flintlock were no match for the awesome power of the blade nestled within her friend's grasp.
A sigh as Babydoll holstered her pistol and stepped forward. No words passed as she looked up at Rocket, another motion as she reached up and cupped the side of her jaw.
Rocket looked down at her, eyes gleaming with tears she refused to let fall. She tried to speak, but her voice caught in her throat. Babydoll shushed her by pressing a thumb against her lips. Rocket leaned into the gentle contact, wishing she could safeguard Babydoll from the consequences of heroism, that someone else could fill her role as the lone warrior against the unstoppable army.
Babydoll didn't need to hear the words; everything Rocket needed to convey was contained in a look. Another moment and Babydoll lessened the distance between them, so close they were exchanging breath. Their eyes locked, offering promises they might not keep. Then the final barrier vanished as they committed an action they had no time for, a kiss as inescapable as the oncoming army.
Time stilled as they lost themselves in one another. For Rocket, the world of snow and midnight foes vanished, her world compressing down to the warmth and contact imparted by Babydoll. Rocket pulled her closer, their bodies fitting together as she continued the kiss, her desperate urgency made plain through the claim of her lips. Babydoll responded, returning her fierceness and increasing the intensity still more before she managed, through sheer willpower, to break away.
As Babydoll pulled back, Rocket looked at her, eyes bright and courageous, cheeks flushed pink with warmth that eclipsed the driven snow. She was beautiful.
You'll shine a light and I'll be brave enough to breathe
"We're out of time." She spoke to Rocket, trying to convince the headstrong woman of what she already knew but didn't want to accept. "I need you to go to the cave and find the item. You can do this, Rocket, I know you can. I'll hold them here for-"A pause as she looked at the surging sea of ink, "For awhile."
Rocket nodded, her chest tight with roiling emotions she held back. She dropped the spent machine gun down into the snow, a hiss of steel as she drew her bayonet and pistol.
To believe, to be free.
"I'll come back for you." A pause as she looked at her, trying to burn every last feature into memory. "I promise."
No more words passed as Babydoll turned, firing the first of her rounds between two glittering targets, satisfaction coursing through her as they eyes blinked out and another pale corpse fell to the ground.