Chapter Twenty Four - A Rude Awakening
A rumble stirred under Lem's feet. For a moment he mistook it as his empty stomach reminding him to fill it until he glanced over at Angelo who stared at the ground in apprehension. They had been through enough to understand what the vibrations under their feet meant. So far they had managed to pass under the radar of the Locust, taking the back entrance into the Jacinto. But their appearance seemed to be more frequent the closer they approached the city. It was only a matter of time until the Locust discovered them.
"Umm... Wilks," he quietly uttered, "We've got company."
Wilks nodded quickly, his mind switching to ensuring their safety. Picking up his Lancer from the pile of weapons, he signalled for the group to hide. He manoeuvred himself quietly along the tombstones to identify the enemy along the far end of the cemetery wall.
The small troop of Locust had picked up the scent of human. A couple of Wretches hurled themselves along the train lines as they tried to track their prey. A lumbering Mauler swung its flail precariously as it heavily plodded alongside a few Grenadiers. Behind them a tall slender Monk like creature observed the whole thing. Heavy robes hung around it and clung to its long limbs as it moved with a sleek litheness that the other Locust lacked. Wilks had been aware that the Locust had been tracking them for a short while now, but had opted to omit this knowledge from the others. The last thing they needed was the knowledge of being pursued. It was this reason that he had chosen to remain on night duties and had pushed the group ahead so far. He hadn't expected the Locust to catch up with them so quickly.
One thing he knew for certain, he couldn't defeat them all on his own. He was going to need the help of the others, despite how tired, irritated or hungry they were.
He returned to them and slipped behind a headstone to address the group who had positioned themselves along the wall.
"We've got Locust tracking us," he admitted, "Look I know we're all tired and our ammunition is limited, but we have to keep the Locust from breathing down our necks."
"What do you want us to do Wilks?" Eli asked, cautiously eager to help him. He could hear Frost tutting behind him so he turned and sent him a glare in response.
"Well they haven't sent the runts after us that's for certain," Wilks commented with a jerk of a head towards the incoming Horde, "I'm going to need you all to help me."
"Wh...What?" Angelo stammered as he stepped back nervously. Feeling the familiar clench of his lungs snap tightly inside him, "No I can't."
Before Lem could rush to his aid Wilks stepped between them. He held a hand out to stop him from comforting his friend and approached the other.
"Kid, you've been through a lot and I get that," he placed a hand on Angelo's shoulder, "You've seen monsters that most children do not survive from. But you have to get over that if you are going to tough this out."
"I've got Rustlung," Angelo tried to seek out Lem behind Wilks' back, but the Corporal shifted himself to edge him out.
"I get that you lived in the protection of your Compound and that people are more lenient towards your condition from your home. The truth is the people in Jacinto don't care about what horrors you've lived through because the chances are they've lived through it too."
Angelo stared opened mouthed at Wilks. Until now everyone had treated him with kid gloves, he had always been the kid with the incurable disease. Even the Lieutenant had been hesitant to welcome him into the Compound with open arms without subjecting him to rigorous quarantine beforehand. But now Wilks was treating him with a frankness that he hadn't seen in years. This guy was treating him like an actual person. And it scared him all the more.
He lowered his head and fixed his eyes upon the soldier's boots, "What can I say, I'm nothing more than a coward and I'm sorry if I disappoint you sir."
Wilks let out a sigh, there was no way this kid would be overcoming his fears anytime soon. He would just have to do it without him.
The Locust were drawing ever closer, the looming Monk figure would pause so often to scent the air. Sucking in oxygen through its slit like nostrils and picking out the stench of human. It leapt effortlessly onto the surrounding cemetery wall and let out a howling drone.
The group dropped to the ground to cover their ears, the high pitched screech coming from the Monk seared through their auditory factors.
"What the hell is that thing?" Eli yelled with his hands clamped over his ears.
"It means we've run out of time," Frost responded sharply.
"Weapons at the ready, those who wish to fight, at my call" Wilks ordered, reloading his Lancer and aiming at the Monk from over the top of the tombstone.
Frost, Eli and Aidan spread out across the headstones whilst Lem, Angelo and David kept as far away as possible, keeping themselves hidden from the towering Monk.
Wilks checked his line as his group readied their weapons and he raised a hand to hold them at his order.
"Fire!" he squeezed the trigger and blasted bullets at the Monk.
The creature leapt down behind the cover of the wall and started droning again. From the shadows a mass of Tickers scuttled into view, spreading out amongst the gravestones to assist in protecting the Monk.
"Keep the Tickers back!" Wilks barked, letting bursts of gunfire into the walking mines as they set off explosions as they detonated, "Watch your flanks."
The gunfire had alerted the other Locust, drawn by the chants of the Monk. They sent the wretches over the cemetery walls first to shatter their attention before the Grenadiers burst through the gates with a blast.
Lem let out a cry as a Wretch propelled itself towards his cowering group. He took hold of the two boys by the scruffs of their shirts and dragged them further away from danger. He scrabbled backwards to pick up the weapon he had left on the ground earlier. His finger shuddered on the trigger as he tried to fire the Hammerburst. It let out a sputter of bullets into the muddy earth. The Wretch danced over his attempts as it took a failed swipe at him before turning its efforts on the weaker humans. Angelo and David cowered behind a crumbled gravestone, clinging desperately to each other as the creature scurried towards them. Fear crept through Lem as he tried to hold the heavy weapon higher. He aimed at the Wretch as best as he could, he couldn't let the creature take his friend away from him. The monsters had already destroyed his family. They weren't going to do the same to Angelo. He squeezed the trigger hard this time as the gun spat bullets out into the squirming body of the Wretch. It spasmed and twitched as its carcass drew to a halt at the boys' feet, dead.
Frost and Eli had drawn the Grenadiers' attention, the Locust kept hidden behind the gateway to the cemetery as they cautiously fired back at the humans. The beasts threw a smoke grenade at them, waited till it burst into a puff of blinding smoke and ran towards them. The Grenadier approached with a roar, towering menacingly over them arms held wide apart in triumph until a loud buzzing sounded behind it. It clutched frantically at its chest as a chainsaw blade burst through it. It coughed blood as it blindly tried to look back at its killer but to no avail. Chunks of Locust body dropped to the ground as Wilks emerged from behind it with the chainsaw of his Lancer buzzing menacingly, blood and bits splattered its blades.
"You're welcome," he commented as he shook the weapon, shedding bloodied droplets as he did so.
Ticking started behind them as another wave of time bombs skittered their way into the graveyard. Wilks dropped back as another Ticker detonated nearby. He took a moment to assess the battle taking place around them, for each Ticker they took down the Monk would chant for another wave. If they continued in this fashion they would be overrun and out of ammunition. He realised that they had to take out the Monk before it inundated them with Tickers. But Wilks had hit the Monk with enough bullets to know that the creature was healing itself when it called for a Ticker Diversion. If they were going to get the Monk they would have to get it without it expecting anything. For this he realised he needed a Longshot, and only one person came fully equipped with this expertise. He was initially reluctant to put so much pressure and unnecessary danger on the young teen. But then if he wanted Aidan in his squad she was going to have to prove herself solo.
He indicated to Eli that he was going to drop back to Aidan. The teen nodded briefly as he squeezed the trigger of the Hammerburst at another incoming Ticker.
Wilks kept as low to the ground as he could as he approached Aidan, who was keeping away from the heart of the battle and firing from a distance.
Aidan watched as the soldier took cover beside her, he sent her a look of exasperation.
"Aidan I need your help,"
"Me?" she asked, slightly astonished that she would be of any use to him.
Wilks placed a hand on Aidan and indicated with a nod towards the incoming Horde.
"You see that creature?"
She glanced across at the towering Monk figure behind the looming group and nervously nodded her head.
"I want you to do one thing for me," his voice unfalteringly patient, "I want you to take it out with a headshot. You think you can do that for me?"
"But..."
"You can do it Aidan, I've seen you do it," He reached out and took her hand. She glanced down at his partly gloved fingers in confusion and panic. Her eyes quickly looked searchingly into his own where nothing but complete faith reflected back at her.
"But..."
"Aide, as long as that Monk is still alive we stand little chance in surviving. It will summon more troops before we even manage to control the numbers. We have very little ammo and I need you to help me,"
She nodded slowly, "What do you want me to do?"
"Over there," He indicated to a knotted weathered tree located in the middle of the cemetery, "You'll have a secluded advantage in that tree."
He led her over to the tree and offered to lift her up. Nervously she gripped his hand as he hoisted her effortlessly onto his shoulder, his biceps twitched slightly as he placed a gentle hand under her thigh to propel her up unto the branches. He watched as she wriggled further up the twisted trunk and unhooked her Longshot from her back, she then signalled him thumbs up. He nodded in return, his eyes not leaving hers till Eli's voice called him back to the chanting drone of the Monk. He unhooked his Lancer and took cover beneath a headstone beside Eli.
"They just keep on coming," Eli reported breathlessly as he fired blasts into another Ticker, "We've got the other Grenadier sorted but I don't think we have an answer for the Mauler."
"Okay, just keep out of reach of its flail. The thing about Maulers is they are stupendously slow and cumbersome when they are at a distance, you just need to get behind the buggers."
"What do you suggest?" Frost asked as he dropped back behind the same tombstone as Wilks.
"I need a diversion, you think you could help me with that Frost?"
Frost sent Eli a look of surprise that the soldier would even rely on him for his help, considering his previous attitude. He looked reluctantly back at him.
"Are you sure?"
"Do I have a reason not to trust you?" Wilks asked simply. Stopping momentarily at the nearby sound of ticking. He turned and fired out of cover causing a blast of an exploding Ticker nearby.
"Of course you don't sir," he responded, "What do you need me to do?"
Wilks thoughtfully considered his actions, "Tell you what. The Mauler is yours. I'll play toe tag with it, get it to come charging towards me. You need to come up behind it and plant this beauty."
He withdrew a grenade from his belt, "This is my last one, please calculate your motions carefully. We can't afford to waste this."
Wilks then turned to Eli, "I need you to watch our backs and most importantly, keep the Locust away from that tree. Your sister is our ticket to ending this."
Aidan adjusted herself midst the foliage of the tree, trying to keep hidden from the battle below her. She let out a heavy breath as she drew her eye to the sights on the Longshot. The magnifier forced the image closer to her so she could pick out a detailed view of the Monk that chanted for more forces. Her ears rang and her heart thundered in her chest. Would she be able to take out the Locust alone without Wilks' tutoring? She hoped she was capable.
Lem had managed to keep the Tickers away from Angelo so far. As long as the bigger Locust focussed their attention on the three who were capable of fighting them, he knew he could keep the little ones at bay. Angelo watched him quietly, not daring to make a sound to attract another Ticker as they spread out ticking behind gravestones to catch unsuspecting prey.
Lem had forgotten about David. Who had decided that he was better off protecting himself in this vast free-for-all. He had watched when the Gear had hoisted Aidan up into the tree. Typical that the soldier was only thinking of his own carnal interests rather than the safety of the group, he sneered to himself. So opting to look out for himself David ran over towards the tree and started to climb it.
As the boy clumsily climbed the tree, a Wretch skittered unnoticed behind him, following him up the branches with a hiss of joy.
The Mauler charged angrily towards Wilks once more as the Gear dove expertly out of the way, steering the beast out of its protective zone and into his hands. Out of the years he had fought Maulers and Butchers he had never gone wrong with the old diversionary tact. The creatures were so useless at such a long range that he might as well have sat and drank tea whilst it lumbered towards him. Granted the shield was the one thing that had been a snag when he first encountered them. He had since learnt that Mauler toes did not like to be shot at however, who'da thought.
Aware of his increasing lack of bullets, he started to pick up little rocks to throw at it instead. All he needed to do was to piss the thing off long enough to get Frost to plant the Grenade.
The Mauler, once realising that Wilks had opted to save bullets, sheathed its shield and started to charge at the Gear, its flail swinging wildly.
"You bugger," Wilks muttered, holstering his Lancer on its sling and pulling out his Gnasher Shotgun instead, "Come to papa."
He let the Mauler run close enough to him to be in range before he fired a point blank shot at its head. The spit of pellets reflected off the flail enough to force the beast to bring the shield out again.
At this point Frost had closed up on it, close enough to plant the Grenade on its back.
The Mauler thrashed out briefly as the flail struck Frost, throwing him to the ground. Wilks counted to five under his breath as he sprinted to Frost to drag him away from the doomed beast. He leaned protectively over him as the Grenade detonated and sent pieces of bloodied Locust across the cemetery.
Wilks took a few moments to come to, crouched protectively over Frost, his body ached in protest. That was the thing about Maulers, when they Boomed they Boomed with impact. He felt his back burn as he stretched out pealing himself off Frost's crumpled form he turned to assess the consequences of his actions. Bits of Mauler splattered around them, and blood, lots of blood. He patted himself down briefly to check any new injuries, but there were only existing aches and pains. He then turned his attention to Frost, who was slowly stirring back into consciousness.
"You okay Frost?"
He groaned in response, slowly straightening himself up, he felt a sharp stabbing pain under his arm. He clutched at his side and withdrew himself from Wilks' offer of assistance.
"Frost?" Wilks frowned, aware that something was wrong.
"I'm fine," Washington turned away from him as he attempted to stand up, "Mauler caught me with its flail."
"Shit, let me look at you," the soldier offered.
"I'm fine Wilks, just leave it alone will you." He snapped, struggling to his feet to wrench himself away.
As he placed one foot firmly on the ground he felt the pain sear up inside him, like a cold stabbing surge of inviting death ebbing through his veins. He toppled to the ground close enough for Wilks to catch him.
"Now will you let me look at it?"
"It's nothing,"
"If it's nothing then why are you in so much pain," Wilks responded, "Please Frost when will you learn that I am not the enemy."
Frost fuzzily fixed his sight on the soldier, what had happened for him to distrust the man so much? There had once been a time that he had oozed with confidence and relished the opportunity of working with an experienced soldier as Wilks. They had been out of the Compound for over a week and already he had held a dying friend in his arms and risked losing the one girl he had ever cared for. How was it possible to feel this useless in such a short space of time? Was this what it was all about, struggling through the nothingness to find any kind of meaning in life? What was the point of surviving past the Compound in that case? Deciding that he wasn't going to succumb to the darkness just yet he reluctantly shifted himself to reveal his injury to Wilks.
Aidan slowly ran through the breathing exercises she had been taught not so long ago. Already she was beginning to feel like a failure after firing two shots that had completely missed the Monk Locust altogether. Her heart thundered up inside her throat, dancing the rumba to throw her off guard. She was rapidly running out of ammunition for her precious Longshot, she had to make every bullet count.
The creature was swerving, ducking and diving, making it increasingly harder for her to even clip it with a round. She had noticed however that the only time that it actually stopped long enough for her to take a shot was when it let out its ear shattering howl of a chant. However each time it did that her ears risked bursting.
She gently rocked back on herself on the branch and dug around her pockets to find something to cover her ears. One ripped bloodied sleeve had been shoved into her jeans pocket, she eyed it up suspiciously and attempted to rip the fabric in half. It let out a satisfying tearing sound and she stuffed each piece into her ears.
It felt surreal, everything around her suddenly became muted and muffled. She cast her eyes down on the ground below her, she could see the fighting but she couldn't hear it. This was perfect. Now she could finally concentrate on the Monk.
Settling back down amongst the branches she steadied her breathing. She followed every move the creature made through the lens of her Longshot, moving wherever it went, preparing herself for when the Monk started to chant again. This time she would be ready.
Behind her she was completely oblivious to David who was scaling his way through the tree and behind him a Wretch followed hungrily.
Wilks' expression darkened as he examined Frost's wound. He wasn't doing a good job at hiding his concern. He dug frantically through his medical pouch to find something to stop the bleeding. Pulling out reams of dressings and holding them out to attempt some kind of patch up.
"Remove your hand a moment Frost," he ordered, "I have to see what kind of pressure I need to be putting on it."
"Quite a lot for the pain to go away." Reluctantly he removed his hand, gazing back at his own blood lacing his fingers in stupefied numbness.
For a moment he attempted to seek out some kind of reassurance from Wilks, but the soldier's vision was fixed on his wound. His brow furrowed, eyes filled with doleful concern as he attempted his patch up. He knew this injury was a lot worse than Wilks was letting on. How close was he to dying in Wilks' arms like the teenager he had held not so long ago.
"I'm not ready to die yet Wilks," he breathed in panic. Sensing a lump in his throat forcing tears to his eyes and a wobble in his stomach.
Wilks paused a moment before glancing up from his work to fix his dark eyes on Frost. A sad smile washed over him as he placed a gentle hand on his arm in encouragement.
"I'm glad, because I'm not ready to lose anyone else," Wilks' slightly accented voice a throaty purr.
"Please don't lie to me if you think I'm beyond help,"
"Sounds like you're ready to give up on me,"
"It hurts so much, sir,"
Wilks glanced back down at Frost's side, deliberating on his answer before opting on brutal honesty.
"A shard of flail has embedded itself in your side. I'm not going to attempt to pull it out because I fear it will cause you to bleed out and that is beyond my medical capabilities. So I am going to bandage you up as best as I can until we can get you to Jacinto where they can fix you."
"How long before we get to Jacinto?"
"I can't say for sure, but no longer than a week,"
Frost nodded thoughtfully, his mind fixated on the shard buried in his body and the poisonous toxins that were now flowing freely into his blood. He now knew that any option available to Wilks resulted in his eventual death, be it sooner or later.
"How long before the poison takes effect?"
Wilks faltered, realising that Frost was now entirely aware of his predicament.
"I can't know what sort of contagion they laced the flail with so I can only assume the worst,"
"How long?" Frost prompted, feeling the lump in his throat constrict his body from doing anything else.
"Two, three days tops,"
"So the chances are I'm going to be dead before we get to Jacinto,"
"We don't know that," Wilks' tone sounded forced, he was fed up of having good people taken from him.
Frost roughly grabbed Wilks' arm and stared at him, pulling him closer.
"She must never know," he hissed.
Wilks frowned back at him, the soldier who still had so much more to learn about the lessons of the heart, "But..."
"You need to promise me that you'll protect her with your life,"
"You don't even need to ask," he responded, "but I'm not ready to let you go yet. There's a chance that we're close enough to a COG patrol that they'll pick up on the gunfire."
"Our Compound dropped into a pit, a Compound controlled by the COG and still no one saw fit to send a search party for survivors. We've been walking for weeks on an obvious route into Jacinto and still no one has seen us. I think it's safe to say that I'm going to die before we find any help."
"Don't give up on me yet," Wilks huskily uttered.
"I never did..."
He opened his mouth to continue as Eli scurried towards them, planting himself beside them, weapon slung over one shoulder. He let out a low whistle.
"Man did that Mauler go splat!" He exclaimed, completely oblivious to the exchange between Frost and Wilks. He then fixed his gaze on the pair with Frost still clinging onto Wilks' wrist. "Wash, you hurt?"
Frost sent Wilks a tiny shake of the head, glaring back at him before responding, "Just grazed by the Mauler's flail that's all."
Even with Frost's brusque response Eli instantly picked up on something not quite right.
"Shit Wash don't they lace them with poison?"
Frost had almost forgotten that Eli was blessed with an infuriating sense of knowledge of all things Locust thanks to Lem. Unlike everyone else, Eli was the only one who seemed to remember it all.
"I'll be fine Eli, Wilks says I'm going to be fine,"
Wilks sent Frost a look of foreboding anger at being included in his blatant lie. He did not want to be involved in deceiving the people who loved him. Instead he placed a hand around Frost and supported him to his feet, whispering in his ear as he helped him find cover.
"I can't lie to them like you can,"
"You don't have to," he breathed back, trying to limit how much he clutched his side in front of Eli, "Just give me a gun and let me go down fighting."
The Monk flung its head back to let out another howling chant, sending out a flurry of Tickers towards the group trapped in the graveyard. Its lizardesque tongue arched and trilled as it droned another ear splitting tune.
This time Aidan was ready. Her heart slowed in tune with her steadied breathing. The cross hairs matched up bang on target. She gently squeezed the trigger feeling the bullet bite back as it spiralled out of its chamber bursting forth. She watched as it hit its destination, its brain splattered with a loud satisfying squelch and its skull cracked apart like it was nothing but putty.
And the droning ceased.
She let out a laugh of satisfaction totally deaf to the events happening behind her.
She shuffled backwards slightly so she could turn to position herself to climb down the tree. Instead she turned to face David, his face pink and flustered. She pulled the fabric from her ears.
"What the..." she exclaimed.
David let out a scream in her face as he pushed her, clambering over her body to scale the tree. Leaving her to confront an angry Wretch. It hissed, raising a claw and swiping at her. She gasped as she tried to shuffle backwards along the branch, feeling it weaken under their combined weight. She looked up and assessed her only choice would be to go upwards. She drew an unsteady foot under her to propel her to the branch above. Grasping a hand onto one branch she made an attempt to pull herself up.
The Wretch leapt at her, clamping its jaws around her foot.
She let out a strangled cry and kicked out at it with both feet even as it sank its barbed teeth into her ankle. Still she tried to pull herself onto the branch, but without her legs to help her she was left dangling helplessly on the branch. She looked around to catch sight of David who was now clinging to the trunk of the tree watching her.
"Please," she cried out to him, "Help me."
She kicked out again with the Wretch swinging from her ankle, its claws clamping itself into her calves ready to heave her off the branch. Agony surged through her and she choked out a whimper. An unwelcomed tear rolled down her cheek.
"David, please," she begged, feeling her grip on the branch weaken, "please help me."
The boy just stared at her emotionless as he just watched her like she was nothing but entertainment. For a moment her hopes lifted as he shifted towards her. But instead he gazed down at the Wretch gripping onto her leg and started to make his way back down the tree.
"No!" she screamed this time, "No, no, no. Kid you can't do this to me. Help please!"
The tears were flowing freely this time as she felt hope slipping from her. She fought back the searing agony that twinged up her leg and tried to figure a way to help herself. She needed something to beat the Wretch off her, even if it meant taking her leg with it. Anything was better than helplessly being consumed alive. Her brain flicked to her Longshot slung over her shoulder, which would mean letting one hand go of the branch. Something she wasn't entirely keen on. But it was her only choice. Reluctantly she slipped one hand off the branch and tried to reach for her Longshot. Her fingers teased over the rim of the barrel trying to get a secure grip. She felt the sling slip over her shoulder and down her arm before she could even do anything to stop it. Her Longshot tumbled to the ground pitifully.
"No!" she shrieked, gazing down at her stricken weapon on the ground which seemed a towering distance away from her.
Her fingers slipped a little on the branch, terror filled her with sickness as the Wretch adjusted its torturous hold on her.
Then her brain reminded her of the Gorgon Pistol holstered around her waist. She would be able to reach it, but if she fired it the recoil alone would most certainly knock her out of the tree. As the Wretch squeezed its claw into her calf muscles sending a spasm up her leg, she knew she had no other option.
She placed a firm hand on the handle of the weapon and gently tried to retrieve it as the Wretch started to twist and turn in the air attempting to tear her or her leg from the tree. She held the gun down towards her leg and the Wretch and fired.
Somewhere in the distance she could hear Wilks screaming her name.
Her fingers lost their grip on the branch and she felt herself fall. Both her and the Wretch hit the branches as they tumbled to the ground.
She blacked out before the pain could take over any further.
The screams alerted Wilks as he was busy taking out the remnants of the Tickers. Helpless to do anything he could see Aidan tumble to the ground almost an eternity away from him. He bellowed out her name and sprinted towards the tree before he was even aware he was doing it. He drew out his Gnasher and blasted the pellets straight into the wounded Wretch as it attempted a final lunge at Aidan to finish her off. He kicked the carcass away as he picked up Aidan's unconscious body and carried her from the tree.
Eli called to him from behind cover, still firing at the Tickers. He stopped, scowled at him and roared a response.
"Kill every last fucker!"
A storm brewed inside him as he carried Aidan to safety, placing her gently on a fallen tomb stone. He ran a gentle hand across her forehead, teasing a bloodied strand of hair behind her ear. Carefully he guided his fingers over her to pick out her injuries. Her shoulder was dislocated, her body bloodied and battered with countless internal injuries, her leg and ankle a chewed mess. This was more than he could fix alone. So far from any assistance and he was going to lose the one he cared for the most.
He felt the pit of his stomach churn as he gripped his hands fisted together in prayer, closing his eyes begging to the Allfathers.
"Not again, please, not again," he whimpered, "Help me."
She let out a light groan at his voice and her only good hand reached out to him. She tried to mouth his name but her lips were bloodied and dried. He opened his eyes and sadly gazed back at her before offering his canteen to allow her to drink.
"Hi," he softly uttered, stroking his fingers against her cheek as she drank, "I said you could do it."
She let out a pained breath as a tear tumbled down her cheek and she spluttered a mixture of bloody water, "I'm sorry."
"No, don't you be sorry," he told her, fighting back his own tears, "You saved us."
"I didn't see the Wretch, I'm so stupid," she tried to move her other arm but instead let out a cry of pain. Glancing back at him in hope that he could tell her what was wrong. "It hurts so much." She wobbled a whisper, gripping her fingers around his thumb.
"You're hurt bad, Aide, I'm so sorry and I'm going to have to hurt you even more to help you,"
"Do it," Her icy blue eyes fixed his without hesitation, "I'm ready."
He felt a sickness well up inside him as he gripped her arm, her eyes resolutely not leaving his. He pushed her arm up against her and heard the bones pop back loudly in place. She screamed in agony writhing up against him and grasping him tightly with her good arm. Tears forced themselves out of her eyes and she felt a surge of nausea rise inside her. She doubled over and vomited up the acid inside. Her body juddered in retort to her motions and she felt herself sway slightly. It wasn't until she felt Wilks hold onto her that she realised that he was still very much beside her.
She could see the anger in his countenance as he wrapped her arm in a sling, gently and firmly supporting her broken body. His brow furrowed as he worked. He ripped the fabric of her jeans to assess the Wretch's handiwork. Rolling the fabric up to her knee he washed away her blood with water from his canteen. Each careful brush against her injuries almost as if he was scared he was going to break her further. Despite the gentle attention she could see the pain in his eyes and the temper that was building inside him. He dressed her wound with the last of his bandages and partially rolling the denim fabric back over her leg to protect it as much as possible.
He then leaned down towards her and spoke with an anger that scared her, "Where did the kid go?"
"Olly," she breathed his name for the first time with so much affection, "Please."
"I saw what he did,"
He rose to his feet to search the graveyard for David, locating him swinging Aidan's Longshot around as if the encounter with the Wretch hadn't happened. He let out a throaty growl as a temper brewed to a head inside him; the secrets, the lies, the emotions that had overcome him throughout this entire journey. But nothing paled in comparison to the betrayal he felt at this kid's cowardice.
"Wilks Stop!" Aidan pleaded.
He strode with long determined strides towards the tree, pulling out the Gnasher from its holster and slotting two rounds into the chamber. A storm raged inside him. The darkness swirled in thunderstorms inside his irises as he took his steps toward the boy's doom. He could hear the shouts and cries from the other members of the group as they sprinted to stop him but this did nothing to distract him. David poked at the Wretch's body with the barrel of the Longshot, totally unaware of the approaching soldier.
The others came too late as Wilks' huge fisted hands gripped heavily over David's throat as he slammed him hard against the trunk of the tree and up beyond the reach of the boy's toes. David struggled for any kind of purchase to save himself and finding none. His terrified eyes screamed back at him, trying to seek out any emotion inside Wilks' being but found nothing but vengeance and anger.
Wilks snarled at him, his huge arching scar throbbed white with violence and hatred. He leaned close and spat at the boy as he spoke.
"You feel that sickening sense of fear surge inside you as you struggle to find anything to save you? Yeah?"
David's eyes widened in understanding as he whimpered a choked response.
"She felt exactly the same way when you ignored her pleas for help,"
He lifted the Gnasher and held it to David's head, pressing the barrel against his forehead. Eli and Lem let out cries in horror and made to step forward to stop him. Wilks swung the Gnasher in their direction.
"Any of you make any attempt to stop me I will shoot you," he growled, "The penalty of being a coward and a traitor by law of the COG is death."
The barrel pressed against David's forehead again and a vast trickle of yellow liquid made its way down the boy's legs and pooled on the ground below him.
"You feel the horror of certain death?"
The kid nodded.
"She felt the same way when you did nothing except watch her struggle to save her own life,"
He heard the click as he pulled the trigger, the girlish screams of the boy as he braced himself for the bullet. A brown ooze dribbled down David's legs. The group all prepared themselves to see the kid's body drop lifeless to the floor. Only to see Wilks drop his gun to his side.
"Lucky for you I keep my safety on," he seethed at David, "Unlike you I am aware of the consequences of my actions. And unlike her you experienced mercy."
He dropped the kid to the ground in a puddle of his own fluids, leaving him coughing, spluttering and vomiting all over himself.
"From this moment on understand that I don't keep you alive because I want to, you are alive because I choose to make an example of you. Live the rest of your pathetic life with the knowledge that you owe it to me and because there has been enough death."
David nodded, sitting pitifully in a pool of his own mess, "Yes sir."
"Now clean yourself up," he spat.
Wilks turned to the rest of the group. They stared in astonishment at the darkness that had bubbled up inside this battle weary soldier. Now aware of the lengths he would take to protect the ones he cared for.
"We are a team. We do not betray one another. We are to protect each other like the family you are. I am responsible to get every last one of you to Jacinto," he aimed the last part at Frost, "And I will do everything in my power to bloody well get you all home."