Chapter 24: Price
"Okay, I get it. You built a remote control for the jeep into Lopez," Simmons said, summarizing what Sarge had just told them.
"Yep. But there's no way anyone could have found out how to turn it on. I hid it in a place no one would ever look. Unless..." Sarge turned to Donut, "Hey, Pretty-in-Pink, were you messing with my robot?"
"I think we should focus less on that and more on getting away from the 3 ton death machine with a turret gun," Yates said fearfully.
"Y-yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with Yates on that one," Grif said, the fear in his voice extremely evident as he started backing away from the Warthog.
"Oh, get a pair, you bunch o' Barbies… er, no offense Yates," Sarge apologized, "But even if they figured out how to turn it on, they'd never know the set of code words to control it. Only me and my diary know that!" Sarge said, confidently.
"Wait, you have a diar-?" Yates started before being interrupted by a series of dial tones coming from the Warthog.
"Drive," the vehicle said in a robotic, monotone voice.
"Jumpin' Jehozafats, they've cracked the code! Those darn windtalkers!" Sarge exclaimed as the car sped forward. Yates watched as the Warthog raced by Sarge and the rest of the Reds and headed straight for...
Before Yates knew it, she was running towards Doc and tackling him to the ground and out of the path of the speeding Warthog. As the sound of the car continuing to drive slowly faded into the distance, Yates breathed a sigh of relief, thankful she wasn't dead.
Yates pushed herself to her feet as Doc sputtered a shocked, "Y-you saved me!"
"Uh… yeah, I guess I did," Yates replied, her expression quickly falling, Shepard would not be happy about this. However, that would be a problem for another time.
Yates dusted her armor off and turned to face the other Reds only to find them staring at her, completely dumbfounded. All except for Grif of course, who simply crossed his arms and said, "Show off," in a petulant, unimpressed tone.
Donut leaned over to look behind the cloud of dust that the Warthog had left behind in its wake, "Uh, guys? Is the car turning around?"
Yates looked behind her; the car had, indeed, turned around and was now facing back towards them. She knew what was coming even before the car had started moving again.
"Acquire target: red."
Yates shot her head back towards Doc and the other Reds, "Get your asses in the base, now!" she yelled.
The other Reds had no desire to argue against Yates, and soon they all began sprinting toward the entrance to Red Base. Yates just barely managed to get herself inside the base in time before she heard the Warthog shoot past the spot they had been standing in just moments ago.
"Thank god that's over! We should be safe in here… right?" Doc asked with trepidation.
"Yep! All we have to do is stay in here for the rest of our lives! Anyone know any good games we could play? You know, before we all starve to death," Grif said sarcastically.
"Oh! I did bring my copy of "Tie & Tease" from back home, but we're going to need some handcuffs…" Donut said.
"Jesus Christ, Donut..." Yates shook her head in disgust.
"You're right, we can just use mine!" Donut replied giddily.
The Reds' bickering was interrupted by the sound of the car speeding past the entrance behind them, then the one in front of them, then the one behind them again. The Warthog was circling the base like a hawk, trying to find the best way to get to the Reds.
Finally, the car came to a stop by the entrance in front of them, the one they had just gone through.
"Eliminate red target."
"Oh no," Grif squeaked.
Yates barely managed to catch a glimpse of the Warthog's turret begin to turn before the hall was filled with a cascade of hellfire.
Thankfully, they all managed to duck into the various side rooms and corners of the hall before they got hit with too many bullets.
"Oh god, I'm going to die here! With all of you! That's the worst part!" Grif sobbed.
"It ain't over till the fat lady sings, Private! So quit yer blubberin' or you'll get us all killed!" Sarge ordered.
"I can't die here! I never even got to… well, do anything that doesn't involve a computer! Man, it's been a real one track life for me…" Simmons pondered.
"And I never got to perform a successful operation without the patient dying on the medical table!" Doc yelled out in despair.
"And I never got to play 'Tie & Tease' with all of you!" Donut cried.
"We are never playing whatever that is!" Yates exclaimed.
"All of you be quiet!" Sarge ordered, "What we need is a plan! So, here's what I'm thinkin', using Grif as a distraction, we'll-" Sarge was interrupted by the sound of another series of dial tones coming from the Warthog.
"Signal Loossst…" the Warthog said as it shut down and ceased fire.
"Thank god that's over," Doc said, "You guys go through some hectic stuff don't you?"
"Hey Sarge, what was that about using me as a distraction?" Grif asked.
"Hm, I guess we'll just save "Operation: Orange Juice, No Pulp" for another time. Unless the Warthog's still got some juice left. Come on, Chupababy! I know you got some fight left in ya!" Sarge exclaimed.
Yates rolled her eyes, turned around, and started to walk down the hall.
"Where are you going?" Grif asked.
"Uh… I'm going to go take a breather after almost dying," Yates said, turning a corner and leaving the base.
"Hey, guys? Does Yates ever seem a little suspicious to you?" Grif asked the others.
"No. Now get the Chupathingy out of the doorway, Private, double time!" Sarge yelled.
Grif sighed, "Yes, sir."
"Hey Grif, maybe you could make sure it's really off by stickin' yer face in front of the turret!" Sarge suggested, "Just make sure to move yer head outta the way if you feel it exploding into millions of tiny pieces!"
/
Yates turned around to make sure no one from Red Base was watching her as she switched on her radio and tried to contact Shepard again.
"Shepard, this is Yates, come in," Yates said, only to be met with static in response.
Yates sighed, "God damn it Shepard, where are you?" she hoped that this had nothing to do with the grenade incident earlier.
He's probably just busy investigating, Yates concluded, secretly admitting that that's just what she hoped was going on.
As she turned to leave and head back to Red Base, something caught her eye, a flash of light coming from their usual meeting point on the cliff. She stopped and focused on the cliff for a bit, sure enough, there was another flash a few seconds later. It was clear that somebody was signaling her, whether it was Shepard or not remained to be seen.
Making sure her pistol was loaded and ready, Yates began to make her way up to the cliffs.
Please be Shepard. Please be Shepard. Please be Shepard, she thought all the while.
/
"Seriously? You've never noticed how she always seems to go off somewhere whenever anything happens around here?" Grif asked as he exited the Warthog.
"I mean, everything that happens around here would be pretty traumatic for the average person, like almost dying to your own military vehicle that your superior officer designed to be controlled remotely… for whatever reason," Simmons pointed out.
"Yeah… fair point," Grif conceded.
"Why do you even care so much about this?" Doc asked, "I thought you were the lazy one."
"Oh, trust me, I am," Grif said, almost proudly, "But… I don't know, something about this rubs me the wrong way, like-"
"Hey! What's goin' on out here?! Do I hear insubordination?" Sarge asked accusingly as he ran up to the others.
"Uh… no sir, we were just talking about…" Grif paused to think, "Headlight fluid."
"Hm… yeah, the jeep's headlights do look a little dim, maybe you could go on a run to the store Grif, get us some," Sarge said.
"Really?" Grif asked in a surprised tone.
"No! Of course not! Where in sam hell would a store even be around here?!" Sarge asked.
"I can think of a few places…" Donut muttered.
"Hey, speaking of leaving, when can I go?" Doc asked, "I have some other things I need to take care of."
"Leave? Hehe…" Sarge chuckled, "Son, do you not understand what the definition of the term "prisoner" is? You're not goin' anywhere, we sacrificed a lot to get you. Well… I should say Grif sacrificed a lot, his dignity mostly," Sarge chuckled again, "Good times…"
"Wh-what? But I can't stay here! I'm a medic! There are people to… make more comfortable while they die out there! You can't just keep me here! Please, you have to let me go!" Doc pleaded.
"No can do, compadre, you'll only be performing dubious medical procedures on us from now on!" Sarge said triumphantly, "Besides, who's to say you won't rat us out to the Blues once you leave!"
"Rat what out?! You guys haven't done anything since I got here!" Doc exclaimed.
"Why do you even want to leave so badly anyway?" Grif asked, "There's not exactly much to see in the rest of the canyon, trust me, I know."
"Well, I'm mostly just worried about my nurse, Price, I left her back where we were first dropped off and I promised her I'd be back once I-" Doc started.
"Wait, your nurse?" Simmons interrupted.
/
"Couldn't we just radio her?" Shepard asked, his voice emanating from the cliffside. Yates breathed a sigh of relief, so it was Shepard signaling her, but who was he talking to?
"No! We have to be careful about-" a female voice that Yates didn't recognize started. Yates stopped, deciding to lay low for a bit and listen to their conversation in case this person was a bad egg.
"Yeah, you already told me, but I still don't see what the big deal is, we know that-" Shepard spoke before being interrupted by the female voice.
"We don't know anything, you two simply being here could have already had major repercussions and that's not even adding on to the fact that you two already made significant changes," the female voice explained.
"Okay, okay, I get it… so what if she doesn't get the signal?" Shepard asked.
"If she's as smart as you say she is, she will."
Yates decided it was time to make herself known, Shepard didn't seem to be in any danger, so Yates had no reason to believe she would be either.
Plus, Yates really wanted to know who Shepard was talking to.
Yates continued walking up the cliff and was eventually greeted by the sight of Shepard and a soldier in light purple armor hunched over the cliffs edge; Shepard had a broken piece of glass in his hand which he was angling towards the sun.
The light purple soldier was the first to notice Yates, who prodded Shepard on the shoulder to get his attention. The purple soldier gestured towards Yates, and Shepard, along with his new "friend", promptly stood up.
"You must be Yates," the purple soldier said, "Shepard's told me a lot about you."
"What's going on? Who are you?" Yates asked.
"You want me to tell her or should I?" the purple soldier asked Shepard.
"All yours," Shepard said.
"Well, let's start with introductions," the purple soldier continued, extending her hand towards Yates, "My name is Alexandra Price, and I'm from the real world."