You know I do pity that cupcake. It was too sweet and beautiful to be blow to pieces...oh well. La vie est la vie.
I stood there, leaning against the side of a truck as I watched Roadblock and Duke make a bet. "So let me get this straight. One whole weekend with you looking after my little girls." He said then handed the mag to Duke who loaded the gun.
"Yeah, they live to terrorize me. You trained them well." I smirked.
"And if you win?" After a moment of thinking Duke decided.
"You have to take your next promotion." Ooh, this could be good. Listening to the soft sound of crickets clicking in the background I slipped down to the ground, a bottle of water in my hand as I wore my old jacket. It was completely wrecked now since it was so old. The seams were pulling apart and one of the shoulders was hanging by its threads but it still smelled of the woods and Japanese air so it kept me comforted.
Plus the sheepskin lining kept me extra warm. "You pull a trigger I'll pull a trigger." He agreed then turned towards the little cupcake that sat on a post a few meters away.
"Oh come on, you're not going to waste a perfectly innocent, delicious, sweet, icing topped cupcake on a bet are you?" I pouted with wide eyes and Roadblock grinned.
"Oh hell yeah."
"Don't worry Kaze, I'll get you an entire cake if it makes you feel better." Duke assured me but I shook my head.
"No way, I want a massive slice of your wedding cake. So long as you didn't go for fruitcake." I paused. "You didn't, did you?"
"No, chocolate." Yes! I smiled, imagining a massive chunk of chocolate cake. I could do with some of that right now. Focusing back on the bet I watched as Duke took aim.
"Think about the wind." Block advised and Duke paused, scrunching up his eyes.
"About four knots? Left to right?"
"And the humidity. I guess it's around sixty-two percent."
"Sixty three, actually." I chimed in with a little smirk as he shot me a look. I looked around when I heard some of the newer Joes laughing loudly, their eyes fixated on my back but I made myself ignore them. I probably came back in the wrong time because the next thing I heard Duke say was:
"You love my panties." Woah, hold up there fella. Roadblock frowned, going over Duke's reply for a moment.
"That's an interesting choice of a joke, out of all the things you could say, you love my panties?" I laughed, running my tongue over my dry lips before reaching for some water. Now every time Block tried to talk Duke told him to shut up each time until there was silence.
Duke narrowed his eyes then focused on the cupcake and I considered going to rescue it but decided not to. What happened next was far more amusing. Duke fired his shot the moment Roadblock spoke. "How's your heartbeat?" The bullet struck the post, making the cupcake wobble but didn't topple it over.
"That does not count. I get to go again because you talked." Block laughed then reached down for a gun, one that I remember Heavy Duty using the first mission we went on together, when we first met Duke and Rip actually.
"No. We're not doing that." Duke tried to protest but Block hushed him softly, focusing intently on the cupcake. Holding back the trigger he splattered the cake then ripped the post apart. I grinned, swigging some water before standing up. "Well Duke. I wish you luck."
"Cheater." He accused.
"I bought my girls a little karaoke machine and they love singing on it all night long." Good luck Duke, you're definitely going to need it. "There's no bedtime curfew so they're going to be up all night, make sure you bring earplugs." Block said, patting him on the back.
"Bes two out of three?" Duke asked hopefully.
"No!"
"Come on man, you didn't tell me about the karaoke machine!" Grinning broadly I hurried after them, pushing my water bottle into Duke's hand.
"You know, it's not so bad, maybe they'll ask you to join in?" I winked then joined Lady Jaye as she gleaned her gun. I drew my katana and began to sharpen it dutifully, watching as the blade gleamed in the light but still, it was nothing compared to Snake's swords or even Storm Shadow's.
At the thought of Storm Shadow a haunting feeling hit me. I did not know why he had this effect on me, the very thought of him sent my heart racing at unnatural speeds whereas when I thought about Snake, it simply hammered a little louder. It was a complex twist of heart and mind and it was starting to make me feel sick. What was wrong with me?
"Prepare for extraction." I distantly heard Lady Jaye say so I blinked, bringing myself from my thoughts and put my katana back, shrugging out of my jacket so I was just in my suit. I put back on my quiver and picked up my bow, checking the bowstring to see if it were damaged before heading towards the nuke.
I was almost there when something bright flashed before my eyes and I blinked, watching the strange little firefly as it zoomed away. "Hey Duke, Kaze, you see that?" I nodded, stepping back to join Roadblock. Hearing the churning of air through helicopter blades I looked at Duke with a frown.
"Pickups early." He noted aloud. Just as he finished speaking a missile struck one of our trucks and it exploded brightly. Instantly Duke moved to naturally stand over me, pulling me down and behind a unit as he yelled. "Take cover!"
Tommy guns fired down on the ground and I screamed as several men and women went down. "No!" All of a sudden everywhere I looked there was the bright streak of gunfire and the plume of fire as the choppers blew up our transports. Drawing an explosive arrow I pulled back my arrow and aimed, shooting a helicopter. The moment it touched the underbelly of the chopper it exploded brightly, throwing it up into the air then it dropped down in the dunes.
"Nice shot." Roadblock said to me. "Got anymore?"
"Plenty." I snarled, my mind snapping to Joe mode. I stepped out, aiming another two explosive arrows then let them loose, guiding one so that it curved around and pierced through the glass of the helicopter, blowing it up from the inside. "Got bad news, that's all I have."
"What?" Duke yelled over the noise. "What do you mean you're all out?"
"I used them when picking up the package!" I yelled back. "What? You want me to throw sticks at them now?" I threw open a case next to me, grabbing the first heavy gun I could see then loaded it before open firing at those bastards who were killing my comrades. "Everyone get down! Stay undercover!" I yelled as people tried to run out into the open.
"Flint's down! Flint's down!" Duke yelled. "I'm going for him!"
"We'll cover you." Block shouted so I stepped out, pressing my back behind the cases on my knees then turned, firing at the swarm of choppers that continued to blow us to smithereens. Where the hell did they come from? Our location was classified to all other servers except for those who had connections to the mission.
Watching I saw Duke narrowly miss getting hit by Tommy fire before he leaped at Flint, nocking him aside to the ground just in time, barely an inch away from death. My promise to Ana rang in my ears and I growled. Tossing my now empty gun aside I hurtled forwards.
"Kaze!" Block yelled but I ignored him, circling around to get to Duke and Flint. They landed behind a truck, scrambling in the sand to get down so I bolted for them, wide eyed as I saw the chopper heading their way. Duke, noble Duke, tossed Flint forwards then lay there, knowing that there was no chance for him as the missile struck.
"No!" I bellowed and flung myself at him. An air bubble whipped around us as I tackled his body, clinging onto him tightly as the flames surrounded us. We landed further away from camp, in the dark, where I let the air go and looked to Duke. "Duke? Duke can you hear me?" I whispered to him.
He was chocking, twitching as he gasped in pain at the burns on his left side. "Oh God, hang on Duke. I'm going to get you out of here." The burns were not so bad on his face but his clothes were nearly burned away and underneath was blistering red skin.
Grabbing my water bottle from my side in the little strap I kept it on I poured it all onto his wounds, hushing him as he cried out. "Keep breathing. Just keep breathing Duke and I'll fly us out of here."
"Block, Flint, the others."
"You're my priority Duke. I'm sure they'll be fine." I told him then grabbed his tags. Taking them carefully off I bit my lip then looked back. I threw them onto the ground were they stuck out against the ground, bright silver. "Stay here." I whispered to him then began to army crawl forwards. Laying flat against the dune I watched carefully for any sign of the others.
Breathing a sigh of relief I saw Roadblock jumping into a well where Flint and Lady Jaye had just leaped in before him. Looking ahead I saw some of the chopper's begin to land and teams came out to search for survivors.
"Alright Duke. You need medical attention." I whispered to him as he continued to cry out. "The others are fine for now but I have to get you out of here so come on." Using his right side I rolled him onto my shoulders, clenching my teeth as I lifted him up carefully. I began at a run then lifted us both into the air, shooting into the sky.
I gained altitude before I began to shoot away like a bullet, getting as far away from that place as possible with Duke groaning on my shoulders. Before he slipped into unconsciousness I heard him cry out Ana's name.
"Alright, you have four weeks to heal up before you're standing at that alter. Even if I have to stand there and hold you up, you are going to marry Ana Lewis." I told him. Once we landed a good hundred miles into safety I found some water and put Duke into it, tearing off his shirt and jacket to tend to those wounds.
Running my hands over his wounded side without touching the skin I began to freeze the air close to the water, forming an ice bandage around his burns until he began to relax, the freezing cold soothing the pain. "Alright, that's better now isn't it? Hey Duke?" I breathed deeply. "I got your back. You're going to be okay. Refilling my bottle I gave him some to drink before draining it myself and refilling it again.
I tapped my comm. Link and tried to speak but all I got was static. The thing was useless. I left it in though, I couldn't afford for any evidence of our survival to be found. I left Duke in the soothing water for a while and let him sleep, watching over him carefully.
So that he didn't completely freeze to death I pulled him out of the water and supported him, keeping his back off the ground as I guessed there was probably more burns there also. "You got to hang on Duke. Ana's waiting for you. She'll be waiting at the church, all dressed in white with a veil, red roses in her hands. She will look so beautiful." I looked down at him stroking his face softly as he breathed rhythmically. "And you'll have the most wonderful life together. No doubt you'll start a family with Tank watching over your children. I'll teach him to be just like Faith and you're kids will never have a better friend. I can promise you that."
"Hmm…Ana?" I chuckled softly then looked up as dawn began to break out over the horizon.
"No buddy, you got me." I told him. Lifting my hand I made him another ice bandage then picked us both up into the air. "Come, let's make some more ground. I want to get out of this place and fly you home."
"Not safe on US soil." Duke murmured feverishly. "Find different hospital…"
"I will, I promise." I assured him. "But not here, I'll get you a decent one. Just trust me, alright Duke? You can trust Kaze right?"
"Sure Kaze. Just please make this burning stop." With a nod of my head we flew through the air, streaking above the clouds where we were less likely to be spotted down below.
Hey, Kaze didn't get hurt! See? She's improving. Becoming more badass and awesome as her journey goes on. Development of a character, aren't I clever? Not really but you know, she is just awesome