Chapter 26

"Claustrophobia"

"I'm scared Roy." Flandre whimpered as the footsteps of the NVA platoon clattered above in the main hall. Sonu loaded up his trench gun, and Rhodes slowly lowered the top cover on his m60. Remilia, Koakuma and Patchouli remained upstairs pretending that Roy, Sonu and Rhodes never existed.

"It's alright Flan, were going to get out of this, don't you worry." Roy whispered as he sat down on the floor next to her. A couple minutes passed and already things were beginning to heat up for everyone as they awaited Remilia's "dastardly" plan.

Sakuya continued to get suspicious glances from the majority of the soldiers. There was no doubt in her mind that they were planning to take advantage of her as she showed them the interior of the massive mansion. Hong was trembling all over; she could not maneuver among the crowd of ambitious troops that surrounded her. Some of them began reaching out for a feel but Hong continued batting them away.

Patchouli was startled when the library doors flew open with a loud squeak. Hong and Sakuya were shoved into the room. Patchouli put down her book and stood up slowly in her chair only to be forced to sit back down again by the gentle push of a rifle butt.

"Well pardon me!" Patchouli grunted as she nearly tipped over in her chair. Sakuya panicked upon hearing patchouli speak in English but the NVA did not react to her slip of language. Patchouli noticed Sakuya's reaction and immediately began speaking in French.

"What the hell is going on?" Patchouli yelled as the men pulled a screaming Koakuma from the floor. The soldier was thrown off balance as Koakuma broke free and turned skyward zooming into the shadows above.

"Shit." Sakuya said.

"SHE'S A DEMON!" One of the soldiers screamed as they raised their guns to the ceiling spraying hot brass casings all over the other girls. Roy immediately stood up.

"Lock and load." Roy whispered as soon as the guns stopped firing.

The men began to chat uneasily among themselves as they changed magazines and scanned the dark ceiling of the library.

"This place is cursed just like the forest." One of them said.

"Where are you you fiend!" another screamed as he jumped on top of the table with his submachine gun.

Roy and Rhodes bolted up the stairs. They took a back hallway untouched by the platoon to the rear of the library where they saw that Sakuya, Hong and Patchouli were still alive. Roy aimed his gun in the direction of the squad that surrounded the three girls.

A figure in the shadows came up and grabbed Roy's arm, Rhodes drew his machete and lurched forward but was alarmed to see a trembling Koakuma clutching the side of her hip. Blood seeped through an opening in her dress and began to drip out onto the floor.

"Koakuma…Shit…Lieutenant, get me a bandage." Roy said in fear.

"Do I look like a medic to you?" Sonu muttered angrily.

Roy rolled his eyes as he got up and cut a piece of Koakuma's dress with his knife.

"Next time, don't be so hasty." Roy whispered as he lifted Koakuma's skirt. Koakuma gasped as she saw the wound. Roy tied the cloth above the opening and pulled the knot tight to create a temporary tourniquet.

"That should hold for a while." Roy whispered as he placed a bandage over the open wound. Koakuma leaned on Roy to assist herself into the air.

"Be careful." Koakuma whispered as she ascended to the beams on the top of the room.

"Captain look." Rhodes said as he leaned over to look. One of the squads took off to inform the rest of the platoon.

"French Canadian…what a joke you're hiding something here?" One of the NVA soldiers growled in English as he grabbed Patchouli by the hair and pulled her head into her seat from behind.

"Shit this wasn't part of the plan." Roy said to Rhodes.

Hong panicked and punched one of the soldiers to her side. As she stood up with a battle cry, another soldier came from behind and bashed Meiling across the cheek with his rifle. Hong fell to the floor clutching her bleeding face. Rhodes held his breath at the sight of the wound.

"MEILING!" Sakuya screamed as she tried to rush over to help but the guard grabbed her by the hair and jabbed his foot into the inside of her knee. Sakuya screamed as she collapsed to the ground in pain. She reached for her watch but the same soldier followed up with a kick to the face knocking her flat on her back, the watch clattered to her side.

"Tell us what your hiding or she dies!" The soldier holding patchouli said sinisterly as he drew a gun to her temple. Patchouli awaited the arrival of Remilia and Roy but was beginning to descend into a panic.

One of the Soldiers pulled up Sakuya by her shirt and shoved her on top of Patchouli's table…

"What's this, so you were planning something?" The Soldier growled as he spotted the concealed set of knives on her thigh as he lifted her skirt up.

Patchouli began to feel the presence of Roy nearby. Her eyes turned to see him sneaking behind one of the bookshelves. The soldiers who surrounded Hong began to cut the bindings of Hongs clothes as they held her at gunpoint.

"If we had a plan it would have played out by now!" Sakuya grunted as the Regulars held her down.

"GET OFF OF HER." Patchouli screamed. Roy was so close that he was afraid his beating heart would alert the five soldiers that now occupied the room.

Koakuma screamed as she dive-bombed the soldier who held patchouli. She sank her thumbs into his eye sockets as she dragged him by the face across the bookshelves. Sakuya reached to her holster and quickly slashed open her captors neck with a small throwing knife.

Sakuya, lacking the ability to move her legs, followed up her defense by throwing the small blade into the chest of another soldier before collapsing to the floor to find her watch. As she did, Roy was alarmed to find out the man he just partiality decapitated was frozen stiff in midair.

"What the…Suzy are you ok?" Roy said as he reached over to help Sakuya. Sakuya gasped in pain as she crawled over to Roy helplessly. As Roy lifted her to her feet, the watch fell out of her hand from the immense pain. Koakuma had finished dealing with the second and fourth soldier but there was one remaining guard and he was already drawing a bead on Roy.

Koakuma picked up an SKS off the ground in a blind rage. Roy saw her aim.

"Koakuma No!" Roy yelled as Koakuma fired the rifle. The first shot she fired was a Headshot from across the room and without a second to lose, a group of NVA soldiers broke in through the front door and began laying down suppressing fire on everyone.

Rhodes came in through the back and began unloading the M60 on the advancing NVA cutting down several men. The Room filled with gun smoke, splinters and muzzle flashes as Roy, Sonu and Rhodes opened up a continuous barrage of smoke grenades and bullets on the unsuspecting NVA soldiers as they piled into the library from the main hallway door.

Rhodes caught sight of Hong as she lie still in tattered clothes on the floor. He handed the M60 to Roy as he picked up an AK from one of the VC.

"Captain, Meiling is hurt bad I need to get her out of here." Rhodes said charging the bolt.

"Are you Insane?" Roy yelled as he continued blasting away the soldiers through the Library door.

"DO WHAT THE MOTHERFUCKER SAYS." Sonu yelled out of nowhere. Sakuya crawled over to Roy still suffering from her injuries. She picked up a MAT submachine gun and assisted Roy in his suppressing fire.

"Let him go Roy, we need her." Sakuya yelled over the gunfire.

"Hurry up Rhodes." Roy yelled between bursts. Rhodes dragged Hong into the back room as Roy, Sakuya and Sonu continued laying down Fire on the retreating NVA squad. On the other side of the mansion, the Captain of the Platoon recognized the sound of the M60 machine gun.

"Come men, we can attack them from the other side and force them to surrender." He said with vigor as the remaining twenty NVA stormed their way from the parlor into the rear hallway. Rhodes laid Hong against the wall and began checking her vitals.

"Rhodes…" Hong whimpered as she fell into his arms.

"Keep talking to me Meiling your going to be fine." Rhodes said nervously.

Patchouli lifted herself off the ground. She had to warn Roy there was something big coming to the library; she could feel the energy as it moved through the halls.

"Now hold on a second there Patchy, this is where my part of the plan comes in." Remilia giggled as she flapped overhead.

"What Fucking Plan?" Patchouli wheezed as she trembled from adrenaline. Remilia headed through the back door as the remaining NVA Regulars just turned the corner to face her.

"Hello boys." Remilia smiled as she began charging up her magic. The Captain stopped as he saw the glowing eyes of Remilia from down the hall.

"IT'S HER…THE RED BEAST…OPEN FIRE!" he screamed.

"The Red Beast?" Patchouli said to herself understanding the language…