Chapter 11: Moving On

The Jackal mercenary's head had been popped like a melon. Several yards away, standing at the center of the armory compound, an enraged, vengeful Angel stood, her AUG A1 still raised and smoke still floating up from its barrel. She breathed heavily, gritting her teeth and clenching her weapon so tightly that her hands shook. Although furious and seething on the outside, Angelica was frightened on the inside. She wasn't sure if Claes was still alive. Had she acted in time? She couldn't be sure, but if she had, she would need to follow it up.

Angie stomped her way to the fallen section of the armory's south wall where Claes lay. As she approached, she saw the heads of several Jackals peeking out at her. She opened fire, not caring if she hit anything or not, but being perfectly content with ripping apart the wall near them and forcing them back behind cover. What Angelica didn't see was the little argument that the mercenaries had behind the wall.

"Should we run?" asked one of the Jackals, his knees buckling in fear.

"Of course not, you idiot," another shouted in reply, "Why would you even consider such a thing?"

"That demon girl looks angry," a third mercenary offered, shaking similarly to the first, "Perhaps it would be best to leave and report back the mission as a failure."

"If we do that," the second merc said, "Then we die anyway. We must fight on and kill these demon children!" He stood to fire upon the still advancing Angelica and was immediately cut down by a hail of gunfire. He fell to the ground, drenched in his own blood, bullet holes dotting his chest and arms. The Jackal struggled to breath. He tried to exhale, but instead there was a wet gurgling noise and blood filled his throat and mouth. A few more wet sputters and he finally lay still, a look in his eyes lingered that seemed to plead, "Do something!" to his comrades.

The first and second mercenaries stared in shock as they watched their friend die, and then they looked up at each other. Simultaneously, as if they had consulted with each other telepathically, they stood and sprinted full speed away from the armory, panting, whimpering and crying in terror.

When Angelica reached the rubble of the collapsed section of the south wall, she was met with the sight of two Jackals fleeing with super human speed granted to them by fear. She could hear their frenzied, pleading cries from where she stood, and, taking pity on them, she decided to let them go. All of their trucks had been reduced to a smoking pile of debris anyway, so there was no need to worry too much about them.

Angelica then laid her eyes on her friend, sprawled on top of the concrete wreckage. She was covered in dust and sand that clung to her with sweat, making her dark hair look gray. Claes lay stone still on her side in a semi-fetal position, blood dripping from a cut on her temple to the concrete, staining her bruised forehead and face with crimson streaks. Seeing that her friend wasn't moving, Angelica's heart skipped a beat. That's when Claes inhaled the dust that lingered in the air and coughed a dry, pained cough.

Immediately, Angelica shouldered her AUG and, lifting her friend by the armpits, dragged her from on top of the pile of debris and towards the center of the armory, where Marco stood, surveying the damage that had resulted from the skirmish that had just ended. Seeing his cyborg dragging her unconscious friend, Marco immediately ran to meet them. He asked, "What happened?"

Angelica gingerly lowered Claes to the floor, making sure to lay her head down gently. She answered her handler's question, pointing to the rubble pile where she found Claes, "She was standing on that section of wall when the Jackals used their demolition charges. I don't think the wall collapsed on her, since she was lying on top of it, but I can't tell to what extent she's been injured."

Marco crouched down and removed Claes' combat vest. The olive t-shirt underneath looked perfectly fine, and was spotless, so it wasn't likely that Claes had suffered any damage to her torso. Her upper arms were also relatively unharmed, except for a little bruising. However, her forearms were not only bruised, they were cut and had bled quite badly. The cut on Claes' temple had stopped bleeding and didn't look too serious upon closer inspection. Her Cargo pants had been torn and underneath her legs were just as badly injured as her arms. Marco felt gently for any protruding broken bones, but found nothing. This didn't mean that there weren't any, though.

Suddenly, Claes gasped and her eyes snapped open. They flitted here and there in confusion. Going from Angelica's concerned face, to Marco's always stern one and back. And forth. And back. "Are we still alive?" she asked, sounding exhausted but otherwise nonchalant.

Marco nodded. "We're alright," he answered, "But you've had quite a fall." He then proceeded to explain to her where she had been standing when the Jackals had pulled out their demolition charges.

Claes' reaction, instead of shock or surprise, was, "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

Marco tried again with the same results, so Angelica tried by saying, "Claes, you were standing on a section of the south wall that was demolished by the Jackals."

"The armory was demolished?" Claes asked in shock.

"No," Angelica tried to clarify, "The armory's walls-"

"Forget it, Angelica," Marco cut her off, "It looks to me like Claes has a concussion. She'll be too confused and disoriented for us to communicate with her right now. We should just load her into the truck and get back to the Desert Children headquarters. First, though, I'm going to have to debrief with Hadi and the military personnel."

Angelica nodded and watched as Marco stood and walked away. When Marco was out of earshot, she turned to her friend and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," Claes answered as she sat up, her concentration miraculously restored, "But I am feeling a bit bruised and battered."

"That's because you are bruised and battered," Angelica replied.

"Did Marco fall for it?"

Angie giggled in reply, "Yes he did. Is that really how people behave when they have concussions?"

Claes shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I've never seen what a concussion looked like, but at least my act worked. Now we should be rushing back to the DC HQ."

Angelica smiled and added, "We'll be resting in the tent in no time."

Claes fell back flat on the ground in exhaustion. "Good," she said, "I need a nap." Then, she winked at her friend and said, "By the way, thanks for the help. I'd probably be dead right now if it weren't for you."

Angelica laughed and responded, "You don't have to thank me. I don't know what I would have done without you."

Claes, suddenly pensive, commented quietly, more to herself than anyone else, "Hmm... me neither." The image of her rotten garden, and lost library lingered in her mind. She knew what would happen to them if she died, but she never could guess exactly what would happen to the other girls. She didn't plan on finding out.