Search And Rescue

Ajay hadn't even realized that they had made it through the portal until Renee released her hand. The calm euphoric feeling washed away from her body and left Ajay with anxiety and fear once again. She knew that she needed to find Octavio before anything bad happened to him. Renee tapped Ajay's shoulder before she spoke, "Ajay, I'll be back for you in 20 minutes."

Ajay looked around, "Yuh not stayin?" Renee shook her head, "I need to make sure that Anita and Loba don't murder each other." Although Ajay didn't like the idea she nodded anyway. Renee stepped back through the portal. Ajay watched as the portal dissipated behind Renee as she vanished. Ajay swallowed hard as she turned around to quickly assess the area.

The area was almost dark as the sun set into the horizon. She saw an unopened weapon bin in front of her and decided that she would save her Wingman for back up. She looked over and noticed that there was another bin but it has already been opened and had been emptied of its contents. She wondered if maybe Octavio had been here and opened the other bin.

Ajay kneeled down and popped open the bin to find the only weapon in the bin was an R99 and five clips of ammo. She grabbed the gun and checked make sure that it was loaded. She tucked the clips into the waistband of her shorts near her right hip. The one time she needed to wear her oversized pants and she hadn't wore them. She was wearing a pair of shorts that barely covered her ass. "Stupid." At least she had D.O.C. with her in case of an emergency.

She stood and was overwhelmed with thoughts that she just couldn't shake. Ajay couldn't quite understand how all of the other Legends could come here and put their lives on the line and be okay with the possibility of dying. Her body trembled as stood back up and tried to think of what to do next. Second guessing was an unnecessary trait that always seemed to plagued at the wrong time. When she was with the Frontier Corps, how to make critical decision making on the fly. "Get yuh shit togetha."

Ajay took a deep breath and to stop second guessing herself. She knew that she needed to find Octavio fast. Between the fear of the prowlers and anxiety of finding Octavio her body just wouldn't cooperate with her wishes so she tried to ignore the trembling since it wouldn't go away. She clicked the R99 over to make sure the safety was off and tried to listen for any indication of Octavio or prowlers or both. She coaxed her body to move forward.

The area was hot a desert and dirt whipped against her bare legs as she progressed forward. She pushed sweat from her forehead and wished that she owned a pair of goggles as pieces of sand flew into her eyes. The whole area looked like it should have been part of Kings Canyon, or maybe it was part of Kings Canyon; just a part that they did not have access to during their matches. She finally made it to a large building that was encased in the side of a cliff.

In the distance she could hear the low growl of a prowler. Her stomach dropped and her mouth became dry. Ajay tried to be as quiet as she could but she knew it was no use; the damned beasts could see in the dark. When she entered the building it was darker than it was outside. The building seemed to be just a wide open space; more or less a passage way to get to through to the other side of the cliff. If there was anything else in the building, she couldn't make it out through the darkness.

The sound of her foot steeps were obnoxiously loud as she made her way towards the other end of the building. She didn't plan to be in this building any longer than she needed to be. She tried to hurry towards the other end without making too much noise. Ajay didn't even know if she was going the right way but it was the only way she could go so she continued forward.

"Come on Silva. Where are yuh?" She whispered to herself. It made her mad when she thought about what Renee had told her about Anita and Loba not wanting her to come to this place. Since they had kept from this place she had no clue where anything was. She had no mini map and Renee had left her to fend for herself. She could have been better off if she had just come here with the rest of the Legends.

She took a moment to gather herself. "Yuh been in worse situations durin the war. Fuck, even at home as a child." Before she could make it to the other end of the building she was met with a set of yellow glowing eyes in the distance. The eyes swayed as the prowler paced in front of the exit. She raised her R99 and aimed the gun at the glowing eyes. Her body was no longer shaking as she squeezed the trigger and pulled on it intermittently. She walked the trigger trying to control the recoil on the gun and to conserve as much ammo as she could.

The prowler went down quick with a loud thump as it hit the cement of the building floor. She was relieved but still tense as she inched her way through the dark building towards the exit. Her heart was pounding in her ears as he body began to tremble again. For some reason whenever she was in fight mode she was zoned and could make spilt second decisions without a problem; afterward was a different story.

She tried to calm herself down so that the beating noise in her ears would cease. Ajay desperately needed to listen to her surroundings to stay alive and to find Octavio. She finally made it to the other end of the building where a huge metal door stood closed in front of her. She managed to find the controls next to the door and took a deep breath as she hit the switch to open the door.

The doors parted from the middle as they opened with the loudest noise that she had ever heard. Her face turned pale from the noise because she knew that it would attract more prowlers to her location. A blast of hot, sandy air greeted Ajay's body as the light from the moon poured over her body. At least it was a little bit brighter outside from the moon light.

Ajay could make out not one but two sets of glowing eyes in the distance. It really wasn't a surprise that there were prowlers waiting for her. She did everything in her power to remain calm as she aimed her R99 at the set of eyes that appeared to be the closest to her. She walked the trigger again. The muzzle flash from the gun was almost blinding as bullets flew from the gun and sent the prowler for a dirt nap.

After the first prowler went down she promptly pulled a clip from her waistband and popped out the empty clip from her R99. "Four clips left." She clicked the clip into place and shot down the second prowler as fast and as accurately as she could. Once her firing ceased she realized that there was a third prowler charging her. "Fuck a third one." She began to fire the R99 into the third prowler and emptied what was left in the clip, which only seemed to anger the prowler.

She turned and darted back for the building as she unloaded the empty clip and snapped a new clip into the gun. She tried to figure out why the prowler didn't go down with the rest of her clip, "Did I miss some bullets? Three mags left." She could feel the prowler at her back as she ran for her life. As the prowler jumped at her she dove to the side and rolled just beyond the doors of the building. The prowler landed on its feet and rebounded quickly towards her.

Ajay sat up on one knee and shot into the prowler as it jumped at her again. The prowler fell lifeless in the air and slid to the ground right in front of her. At that very moment all she could feel was her heart pounding against her chest wall. She hated this feeling. She hated this person that she had become.

She had never been this weak again until the damn prowler attack on Talos. Then the ambush from Revenant didn't help her situation. She left fragments of herself behind when she left home. She promised herself that she would never be weak again but apparently that promise didn't seem to matter. She was starting to feel like the pathetic little version of herself that she left behind on Psamathe years ago.

"Where are yuh Silva…" Ajay made her way back out into the dark desert area. The heat was stifling as it engulfed her body. Dirt crunched underneath her boots as she moved forward. It wasn't long before she finally spotted something that wasn't a prowler. She knelt down and picked up an empty stim syringe. At least she was getting closer; she hoped.

She dropped the syringe as another pair of glowing yellow eyes were fixed on her. She nearly jumped out of her skin as she fired what was left in the clip of her R99 into the prowler. The gunfire echoed throughout the night air. The prowler fell in front of her and so did the empty clip as she loaded a new one into the gun. "Two mags left." She pushed more sweat and, now, prowler blood from her face.

She began to hear what she could only assume were footsteps from other prowlers approaching her. She began to move quickly without any thought as more prowlers raced towards. Her body went into fight mode and she fired at the prowlers. She dropped prowlers one by one as she ran and shot them trying to evade their sharp claws. Ajay exchanged an empty clip with a full one when the last prowler hit the dirt. "One mag left." Luckily she had managed to fend off the prowler onslaught.

Eventually she made it to the edge a small clearing with a river. She looked out across the small river and that's where she saw him. That's where she saw Octavio laying in the water with a prowler standing over him. She wanted to scream to him but she couldn't speak. She felt like she was having a nightmare and she just couldn't talk at all. Her body was almost paralyzed by fear but she pushed through it because she knew if she didn't move fast it could cost Octavio his life.

Everything fell silent as rushed passed the clearing and into the water. She raised the R99 and shot her last clip into the prowler as it was about to strike Octavio. Prowler blood splattered everywhere like a murder scene. The prowler splashed in the water as it dropped onto its side next to Octavio. Ajay quickly trudged through the bloody water and followed it until she made it to Octavio.

She quickly tossed the empty R99 into the water because it was useless now. Ajay knelt down in front of Octavio and picked him up by his shirt with one hand as she pulled her D.O.C. drone from the front of her backpack with the other. As her adrenaline began to where off sounds were becoming louder and more apparent.

She could hear D.O.C. click on as she nudged the drone to Octavio. D.O.C. attached a cord to Octavio and let off a soft teal glow as it began to heal Octavio. Her eyes peered down at the claw marks across his abdomen. There was blood all over him and she wasn't sure how much of it was his. She hoped that she wasn't too late. She pushed back tears for her sake and for Octavio's sake.

Once Octavio started to perk up she knew D.O.C. was working and she had made it to him just in time. His wounds had already closed up, just like magic. She gave a silent 'thank you' to her drone as she continued to hold back tears. "Che?" Octavio's voice pierced through the silence in her head. She looked at him, overwhelmed with emotion, "I didn think I'd find yuh Silva." Her face was a mess of dirt and blood and worry but it didn't seem to bother Octavio as he gazed into her eyes.

Ajay was still gripping a handful of his shirt, holding Octavio up out of shallow water. The cool water didn't seem to bother her; in fact it felt good against her bare legs. Octavio felt better immediately after D.O.C. finished healing him. He always thought it was pretty amazing that the little drone could work magic like that. When D.O.C. was done healing Octavio, she tucked the drone back into her backpack and released the death grip that she had on his shirt.

Octavio placed his hands in the water behind him to support his body. He was surprised that Ajay had come to find him but he was glad that she had because that prowler was about the end him. He was at a loss for words as he stared into her beautiful eyes. He wanted to tell her about everything but there was no time because the next series of events happened too fast for him to have any time to react.

The air next to Ajay suddenly tore open as Renee's portal began to take shape. The blue portal was actually quite bright as it opened and filled the darkness around them. Ajay knew that it was only a matter of time before they would be able to return to their world and away from this hellish nightmare. She took Octavio's hand into her hand when she felt Renee's hand on her shoulder.

"Che!" Octavio's voice was loud but it was too late. The portal was louder than he was as it pulled them in and swallowed them. Ajay's back felt like it was on fire and like her insides were being ripped apart during their ride through the portal. It was a a little confusing because the previous trip through the portal hadn't felt like this one, but she didn't care. She had found Octavio and that's all that mattered.

Her hand was still gripped tightly to Octavio's as Renee pulled them back into their reality. Rene's hand left Ajay's shoulder as the portal closed with a loud snapping noise. Ajay smiled at Octavio and placed her free hand on his cheek. She felt dizzy as she and Octavio both sat on the floor together.

She gently eased some blood splatter off his cheek that she didn't recall seeing before. She held his cheek in her hand and smiled at him, "Don go runnin off like dat again yuh hear?" She was happy that he was back in their world and that he was alive. She wanted to tell him everything that she couldn't before but she felt so tired. She watched his lips move but she couldn't quite hear what he was saying as everything went silent and her vision fell to darkness.