Chapter 3.
"Oh, for goodness sake, stop crying!" Liquid thought to himself. He'd had enough of that when he visited Meryl during Snake's torture. Then you could quite clearly hear everything, Ocelot's heckling for Snake to give in, brittle crackling of electricity and Snake's agonised yells. What attracted Ocelot to that, Liquid couldn't understand.
He turned his attention to the huddled figure in front of him. Meryl held herself away from him as far as the snowmobile would allow; her wrists tied to the handlebars so she couldn't run off. Liquid wanted to keep watch over her, and also didn't want to have a soaking back from her weeping so had seated her in front of him. She hid her face with her arms, muted cries of "Snake" emanated occasionally from her and broke down into more wet sobs.
Liquid sighed in relief when she stopped. He saw one eye peep out from the strands of red hair in front of her face, watery and puffy, eyelashes clumped together with tears, staring up at him. It narrowed slightly.
"How can Snake be your brother?" she breathed.
"Just because I am his brother does not mean that I share all the same traits as him." Liquid said simply. "Perhaps I should explain to you how." Meryl still sat hunched over, but he began regardless.
"Did he ever tell you that our father was once the greatest soldier in the 20th century?" Silence.
"It was during the seventies that our father, Big Boss was brought into hospital in a coma. During that samples of his DNA were taken from him and used in a secret project called Les Enfants Terribles; The Terrible Children. It was from his DNA that myself and Snake were born as an experiment to create the best soldier possible from the genes of the greatest one alive. Of course, they didn't make straight clones of him. No they weren't finished having fun yet. They decided to take two of the eggs and manipulate the genetic information in them, giving one the receive genes and all the weakest traits of Big Boss and the other one the best and strongest genes." Liquid paused, acrimony seethed into him while he prepared himself to finish what he had to say.
"So as a result we were made. They left me to be the weakest and have that yoke upon my shoulders for the rest of my days, knowing that I was used so they could make him, my brother, Solid Snake." Liquid said his voice gradually grew louder as he spoke.
"Explains why you look like each other, but are so different." Meryl whispered.
"We're very different my dear!" he shouted. "Snake might be the strongest, but he is the weakest too."
"What do you mean? He beat you and all your plans." riposted Meryl.
"I don't have the fault he has. I didn't fall for a woman who then was captured and let that get in the way of the mission." Liquid roared. "I didn't spend a good part of the mission wallowing in self pity over you, then imploring for no harm to come to you. I didn't go back home like he did, with the woman he loves and..."
Meryl sat up sharply.
"Ah, so I was right then?" Liquid jeered. "He did, didn't he?"
"Y...you...saw..." Meryl began. "You..." Meryl shirked.
"Don't get me wrong, it was by chance that I saw you two but well... how may I put this? That gives me more reason to kill him." Liquid spat callously.
"Jealous?" Meryl chided flippantly.
"NO!" Liquid roared. "Don't you see? He's the one who stands for everything I hate. All that I detest. He is what is left of my past to remind me that I am pathetic. A TRIVIAL EXCUSE FOR SOME SCIENTISTS' JOKE! He stole everything before I could do anything. He killed our father before I could, taking the chance away for me to take revenge on Big Boss for always telling me I was useless, an embarrassing excuse of a son to someone so proud as him with such a legacy as his. Then he crushed my plans to redeem myself and surpass all that my father had made. If I couldn't destroy his body then I could annihilate the memory and become the unparalleled soldier of all time. Snake doesn't seem to share the family dream for a world of total war." Liquid bellowed as Meryl shied away in front of him.
This was just one way to begin the attack on Snake. Snake had hidden all this from Meryl clearly, so this would come as a shock to her to find out about him and where he came from. Liquid sat back satisfied that he'd proven his point continuing to carve their way through the dark, the headlight casting a white beam a few feet ahead of them.
Snake wished he hadn't got up so quickly, pain flared up again in the gunshot wound and up his side. He certainly would have to be careful with it.
"Where did I put the sneaking suit?" he wondered. "I'm glad that I didn't decide to get rid of it." As he raided through the wardrobe, throwing stuff on the floor. It was much better to wear that than go in normal clothes, and far warmer too. He found it sitting in the back. Everything was there, right down to the bandanna and he quickly changed, forgetting how tight fitting it was and wrestled with it for a minute or so. Having kitted himself up Snake dipped into his jean pockets for the keys to the gun closet and a packet of cigarettes and lighter.
"At least this time I don't have to swallow them to take them with me." Sake thought. Naomi had been rather tight-fisted not letting him take them on the mission. But this wasn't the same as the last mission. That was official, this wasn't. It was a private battle between him and Liquid to get Meryl back, they were all supposed to be dead now, even then Snake doubted that anybody would have really cared what was going on if they knew, just so long as it didn't damage the government's image.
"I reckon I'll just need one gun for now I can get other weapons on the island." Snake said in his head as he unlocked the locks to the gun closet and picked out a HK .40 USP. He didn't really care if he was supposed to have it, and in this situation Snake wasn't in the mood for rules or anybody to tell him what to do.
"I want Meryl back. I gave my word that I'd look after her, how can I turn my back on that and let her die?" Snake thought loading a magazine into the handgun and readied it before putting it into the holster on the side of his leg. He attached a few magazines to his belt.
"It's true that you learn how much you appreciate something after it's gone. I guess the same could be said for people too." Snake thought to himself. He paused and stopped.
"I love Meryl." Snake said firmly. It might have seemed to some people that he only liked her because she filled an empty space next to him in his bed, to Liquid perhaps, but Snake knew himself that was not true. To Snake, that evening with Meryl hadn't been as a result of infatuation. Rather it was indicative of what Snake felt about her.
"I've been the cause for so many deaths... I don't want to be the one to blame for hers too. Patricide was enough. My hands are dirty enough without her blood on them." Snake thought as he paced round to the garage to haul the snowmobile out. He hunted around in the dark for a fuel can, finding it on a shelf, the sloshing noise told him there was some inside it and Snake filled the snowmobiles tank up.
"C'mon I've gained too much to loose it all now. I have to get her back, whatever the cost." Snake thought kicking the engine into life and sped off.
She did it again, wrenching at his arm in an attempt to get away. Liquid's patience with Meryl was wearing down by the second, and this was not helping one bit. They'd reached the top of the slope and stood now where all of the buildings were sitting. Meryl made another bid for freedom and Liquid felt himself pulled off his feet to fall flat in the snow. Meryl stopped realising that she was not going to get far with him tied to her wrist. Liquid got up onto his feet, brushed snow out of his face.
"I've had enough!" he shouted at her. "Get it into your head girl, you are not going anywhere! Do that again and I won't hesitate to kill you on the spot!" He hollered heatedly and took his SOCOM in his free hand and swung it at her face. Meryl didn't make any sound when it smacked her, but Liquid could tell that it hurt. Her eyes went shiny and wet again as she fought back tears, cheek swollen up a little her pale skin scratched, blood weeping out.
"Good, I hope that you understand now." Liquid snapped and turned her round so she faced away from him and began to walk forward, pushing her ahead of him as he pointed the gun into the small of her back reminding her that he was not bluffing.
"I have to get her out of the way before Snake arrives." Liquid thought leading Meryl down the island and turned to go inside the base. "I want to put her somewhere where Snake can easily get into, but will find difficult to escape from." He thought an idea forming in his mind as to how he was going to capture Snake. Meryl was the snare, Liquid knew that would be the first thing on his brothers mind and knowing Snake, he wouldn't care much about anything else. And then Liquid hadn't told him what he wanted yet, so capturing him and making sure he couldn't retaliate was the only way of outlining his demands to Snake.
"The quarters that belonged to the scientists who worked on Metal Gear are easy to break into and the corridors there are straight and narrow, so a gun fight will be difficult to fight and run from." Liquid thought. The lack of cover would let him try to get a shot in at Snake to incapacitate him enough to allow Liquid to trap him. With Meryl locked away, Liquid would then lie in wait outside to give Snake a welcoming and lead him inside.
"Poor Meryl. Only two days she's had with him, only for it to be ended as it had started; in the middle of fighting." He said in his head, a derisive tone to his thoughts and smiled.
"I thought I'd seen the last of this place." Snake thought as he slowly steered past the cliffs looking up at the top of the island. "I should have known that peace was too good to be true." Around the bend, Snake recognised the spot where he and Meryl had found the snowmobile and the steep snow covered path up to the top. Dawn had just broken, the sun wasn't up over the horizon yet, and there was a strange gloom to the sky bordering on day and night.
"At this rate I'm never going to get a good nights sleep." Snake thought, a faint smile on his face. He climbed off the snowmobile and pushed it backwards into the little cave at the bottom of the cliff. He checked the USP and had a look at the magazine he'd loaded. Surely ten thirteen round magazines would be enough adding the additional thirteen already in the gun to give Snake one hundred forty three bullets and chances of finishing this forever.
"If I don't get rid of Liquid he's going to try this again and not stop until he's done. There's no telling what he'll do if I don't finish him." Snake thought as he walked up to the top of the island, the USP still in his hand. Everything was pretty much as it had been when they'd left. The jeeps were still turned over, battered and covered in a thin crust of frost. There was no way they'd see any more action after that.
"Where to start searching? I could spend the rest of the day looking for Meryl and Liquid and never find them. I haven't even been in half of the base before." Snake thought as he scanned the area around him. He walked up to one of the green military jeeps and paused while he thought about what he should do. He wasn't given much time to stay still. A rapid burst of gunfire from a FAMAS snapped out and forced Snake to jump back, the bullets sent puffs of white snow up as they hit into the ground just inches in front of where he had stood.
"DAMN! Liquid, I should have guessed that you'd be here to give me welcoming party." Snake said to himself ducking behind the jeep. He waited again and looked up over the edge of the jeep to take a look and shot twice. He ducked again when he saw a familiar blonde haired figure whip round from behind a corner of an entrance into the base. Bullets whizzed just above his head, ringing off the metal and burst through one of the tyres, the air hissing out of it madly. Snake returned fire with a quick double tap on the trigger, this time he fired from the side of the jeep, hoping that Liquid would not expect fire from another point on the jeep and to save himself from a nasty surprise to find that Liquid had been waiting, aiming at where he'd last poked his head up from.
Another short burst split the air, and the bullets whipped past the end of the jeep. Snake looked up again and saw Liquid run back inside out of Snake's view. He waited just to make sure that Liquid wasn't waiting to fire, but nothing happened. Snake loaded a fresh magazine. There was nothing wrong with the other one; Snake just felt better knowing that he could fight for longer if he was attacked and would not have to reload so soon. Reloading was risky at best in fight, and life threatening when it was Liquid with a FAMAS shooting back.
Snake got out from behind the jeep and slowly made his way to where Liquid had disappeared, USP at the ready. He reached the door and leaned up next to it before peeping in. The door was open and took him down a corridor. Along it, Snake could see stores, for food he guessed. Big stainless steel cabinets and cupboards, humming of refrigerators echoed from one room. Further down on the opposite side, freezers, as if they needed any in Alaska, and next door to that kitchens with an adjoining self service canteen. He had a quick look inside, but nothing caught his interest. There were only overturned chairs and stale food knocked over from tables sprinkled along with broken plates onto the floor. A couple of dead bodies were slumped in corners and in chairs.
"Victims of the revolt more than likely." Snake frowned and turned to head further down the corridor. A lift was all that he found at the end and Snake pressed the button at the side of the door, waiting for it to appear. There were two buttons for floors, so Snake went to the next one down. The elevator plunged downwards with a judder after the doors slid shut only to pop open again seconds later.
"This is weird. What is Liquid up to?" Snake wondered as he stepped out of the elevator holding his gun before him, both hands wrapped tightly round the grip. The doors clanged hut behind him.
"More corridors? This must be the dorms for the resident workers here." Snake thought as he looked up and down the long narrow corridors. He walked on; his feet slid a little on the polished floor. The snow stuck on his boots began to melt and made it harder to walk without skidding around.
The doors had standard locks which only needed a key to open, unlike the other doors which required the use of an ID card. That made it easier for Snake to break into, as there was no guarantee that shooting the panel of an ID card reader would open it, and rather have the reverse effect. He carried on pausing at each door to listen for any sign that somebody was inside, desperately hoping that on the other side of one of them would be Meryl.
Some of the rooms again told sorry tales of what had happened when FOX-HOUND had taken over; bullet riddled corpses lodged inside one or two of the rooms that Snake had passed.
He went round a corner and past more rooms.
"Huh?" he stopped and took a few steps back. "What was that?"
Snake went up to the last door he had gone by and pressed his ear up to the door. A faint muffled cry came from inside.
"Is it...?" Snake thought eagerly and stood back to take a kick at the doors lock. The first one shifted it a little, a second kick and the door burst open inwards.
"Snake?" a voice gasped hopefully. Snake stepped in and saw Meryl lookup from where she sat on the floor leaning against the back wall.
"Not so loud." He whispered. Meryl got up and ran towards him, and Snake opened his arms to hug her.
"You okay?" he asked as Meryl flung her arms round him, gritting his teeth when her arm hit his wound. It still stung, even now.
"Yeah, what about you and when he shot you?" Meryl asked a concerned look in her eyes.
"Still sore and I can't move this arm so quick because of it." Snake admitted and moved Meryl's arm further up so it was above the injury.
"Hey," Snake began when Meryl turned her head and he saw her swollen cheek. "what happened to you?" and put a hand up to touch it gently.
"That...I tried to run away but Liquid hit me after I pulled him over and made him fall." Meryl explained calmly. "It's nothing really, Snake, don't worry about it." She added.
"Bastard!" Snake sighed crossly and held her tight. "He didn't have to do that."
"This is too easy. Why did I get here with no confrontation, apart from outside?" Snake wondered. "He's planning something..."
Meryl smiled up at him, her eyes weren't quite so red as they had been when Snake had first broken in. Snake was happy to see her again, but there would time for that later, they couldn't relax yet. Snake was more concerned about getting out and making sure that neither of them, especially Meryl, got hurt. He planted a quick kiss on her forehead.
"C'mon. Let's get out, okay." turning around and let go of Meryl. Snake looked up and down the corridor. Nothing there. He nodded to Meryl, letting her know that it was all clear to go.
"Just stay close to me." Snake said to her and they began to walk back the way he had come. From behind them, the sound of somebody running towards them could be heard. Snake looked round, and then began to run too when he saw that instantly recognisable figure appear.
"SNAKE!" screamed Liquid as he charged up behind them, a FAMAS in his hands.
"Meryl, get in front of me, c'mon...RUN!" Snake shouted as they began to sprint up the long corridor. As they ran he turned slightly to the side looking back at Liquid, firing two shots from his gun. They skidded up the passageway, bullets screamed past them with the rapid chatter from the FAMAS. Snake returned fire with a triple blast and ducked behind the corner just before more bullets pelted into the wall where they had been.
"Damn!" Snake panted. In the confusion and need to get away from Liquid they'd taken a wrong turn and were now headed away from the elevator.
Snake popped out from round the corner firing a salvo of four shots. Liquid still ran on, and would be on them by the next volley of shots.
"We have to run again, Meryl." Snake shouted over the noise as the FAMAS snapped out death. "Just stay in front of me again."
"But what if..." Meryl asked. "Snake I don't want you getting shot again."
"Don't think about it...now come on." Snake said getting up and raced off again. Liquid chased after them, not far behind.
Snake looked back out the corner of his eye and reached back to shoot again while on the run. Every bullet missed and Liquid regained composure from avoiding them quicker than Snake had expected, raising the FAMAS up in a flash. Snake struggled to react, his mind worked faster than his body, and pain tore up his right hand side as he lifted the gun again. His injury was holding him back.
"MERYL! Watch out!" Snake shouted and pulled her towards himself so that she may not get shot, held her tight with one arm. The FAMAS in Liquid's grasp was levelled with him before Snake could pull the trigger of his USP.
Blood turned to ice. His mind told him to get down. His body didn't respond for a second.
"Shit!" Snake thought plainly, no emotion to begin with then boundless dread when the FAMAS rattled and flashed behind him spewing out lead.
"SNAKE!!!" Meryl screamed piercingly before tucking her head down against his chest clinging onto him as Snake finally threw himself and her to the floor. His left leg give way underneath him as two bullets ripped into and right through it, tearing a burning trail of hot pain. Another two went into his arm; one over the top of his shoulder and one skimmed the side of his upper arm. Snake choked on his own breath, weak all over, looked down, blood spilled out from his leg. The last of his breath was spent on screaming out in pain; eyes clamped shut, face creased up. When was the last time he'd been shot like this? Snake didn't care to remember his mind a muddle as the bullets shredded up flesh.
He and Meryl landed with a sickening crunch.
"S...Sna...Snake...?" she asked her voice quivering like her body, as she lifted him up onto her knee. Snake put the USP into the waistband of her jeans and shoved a magazine in her pocket.
"Don't let him see it." Snake whispered. Meryl was ashen, her eyes wide. Snake looked down to the floor. His own blood had been smeared across the tiles, glistening in red streaks. He couldn't get up at all; his leg refused to work.
"Snake... oh God... Snake..." Meryl cried and wrapped her arms round him. "You okay?" she whispered softly. Her hands were covered in red.
"It's not too bad, I have to get fixed up soon..." Snake breathed putting a hand down to his thigh, his trouser leg plastered against it.
"You sure?" Meryl asked gently. It was almost a complete reversal of things as they had happened when Sniper Wolf shot Meryl, only this time Snake was the one needing help now.
They looked up to see Liquid standing over and leering down at them. Snake could just about make him out, arms folded across his chest, grinning.
"Did you really think I'd let you go so easily with Meryl, Snake, and not expect something in return from you?"
Snake gave a frosty look to his brother, he didn't wish to give Liquid the pleasure of hearing what he had to say. He wasn't worth wasting precious energy or breath on. Meryl trembled as she held him tighter while Liquid took a few steps to stand at their side and moved the FAMAS around in his hands.
"Don't worry brother. You won't feel that shot leg for much longer..." Liquid sneered. Meryl went cold and her grip fastened even tighter round Snake. Snake was split about what was going to happen as he saw the FAMAS move up, death or knockout? He couldn't tell. A sharp blow smacked into the side of his head. Dead? Alive? What was it? Everything went fuzzy; colours ran into each other like watery paint, blurring out what he could see and faded to black. Meryl's hold felt so distant, descending into nothing.
Snake's body went limp and motionless. He went out cold easily, already weakened, body in shock from being shot and loosing blood. Meryl looked up at him, staring hard, biting her bottom lip to stop it from quivering.
"Oh now don't give me that, Meryl." Liquid sighed and threw a box to her. "He isn't going to die, not yet. Now bandage up his injuries if you don't want him to bleed to death while he sleeps." Liquid smirked. He decided not to throw in a remark about how she should know Snake's body and let her get on. He watched to admire the damage and pain he'd inflicted on his brother as Meryl ripped Snake's trousers to wrap a bandage round his leg. He let Meryl finish and picked Snake up putting him on one shoulder and grabbed Meryl's wrist, heading back to the elevator.
"Snake...sleep well, you'll need it." Liquid thought.
Continued in chapter 4...
