Taylor
April 23rd, 2011
T+6 Days
A heavy hand patted Taylor's back as she spit the last of the puke from her mouth. It was all so sudden. To know that the older her was so careless in killing, a fact reinforced by the feelings she felt or lack of them. It was pragmatic in execution and in scope. The odds weighed, and Rose felt this was for the best, with no thought given to the life taken.
Taylor looked up, and Miles peered down with a water bottle in hand. She took it, rinsed her mouth, and spat it out before he handed her another bottle filled with the same green mixture that she had just puked out. He looked away and shook his head. "Rose, Rose, Rose. Try not to throw it up this time, Taylor."
Just like that, Miles moved on, leaving Taylor with a bottle of green goo and another of water while she was still reeling from what she saw. Tammi, who had disappeared at one point, came back once he was a distance away. "See, monsters."
Taylor coughed, licking her lips as her gaze darted around the assembled civilians. Some stared at her while others milled around, but she could sense the general unease in the crowd. Even in Brockton Bay, people don't get executed in the open, but a twinge of hypocrisy from Tammi shifted her tremulous feelings onto her. "Like the Empire didn't do worse." She spat.
"They deserved it."
"And a potential child rapist doesn't? Or is it because he was white?" Taylor reeled on Tammi, pushing up close, and used her height to tower over her. She shoved her back with one hand, forcing Tammi to retreat.
"And how do you know Empress was telling the truth?" Tammi snapped.
Taylor balled up her fist, glaring at Tammi before lashing out. There was no warning before Taylor's armored glove slammed into Tammi's helmet with a clank, snapping her head back. Taylor pushed forward, and rage tinted her vision as she reared back to punch again.
As much as Rose and Miles pushed, prodded, and put her in uncomfortable situations, incredibly uncomfortable situations, not once did they treat her worse than her old schoolmates or even come close. They made horrifying decisions, did cruel things, and killed, but not once was it out of cruelty. Their actions were monstrous, but only monsters cause pain without reason.
It wasn't like they took in all these people to lord it over them. The feeling that Taylor got from Rose was that even having people here was a detriment. A problem that she and Miles wanted no part of, but they took the survival of the species into their own hands out of a sense of duty. If Miles could create creatures from nothing, there wasn't a reason he couldn't do the same thing with humans.
Tammi and everyone around them should be on their knees, thanking them for even tolerating their existence! Taylor snarled as she commanded the system to disengage Tammi's helmet. It popped off with a hiss, and Tammi's eyes turned fearful, cowering back to try to stop Taylor's armored fist from caving in her face.
Before Taylor could follow through, hands pulled her back and away from Tammi. She whirled around to see Edith holding her.
"This isn't the time or place. Come on, we're rolling out soon," Edith said while steering Taylor away.
It was only then that Taylor noticed how the surrounding crowd watched them with weary eyes. Taylor swore, remembering her conversation with Miles about not showing weakness in the open, before kicking herself. She slammed the helmet back into place and stomped off without a word.
The door to the converted truck slammed shut as Taylor took her place, thankful for the solid door with only a tiny tinted window. She grabbed her rifle and strapped it on before closing her eyes and trying to calm herself. A click had her helmet popping off again as she uncapped the smoothie and took a sip, swishing it around her mouth. She focused on the tingling taste.
How Taylor missed having swarms of bugs to dump her emotions into. The less she controlled, the more out of control she felt.
Edith slid in, taking her spot before buckling the harness into place. The rest of the crew piled in, Redshirt driving, Joe shotgun, and Lilith on the back and manning the mounted machine gun. Taylor refused to meet any of their eyes, content to stare at her drink and mentally kick herself.
A tap on her shoulder forced her to look up. Edith tapped her helmet. "Comms." She said and left it at that.
Taylor sighed, sucked down the rest of her smoothie, and wished she was in the past with no responsibility. How times had changed when earlier she fought and wished to be taken seriously only to find out how much pain and stress came of it. The helmet snapped back on as she dropped the empty bottle.
Big Dog, in a normal and not boisterous voice, went over the game plan that Taylor already knew. They were loading the Alpha squad into the bus, driving them halfway across the city that was tearing itself apart before setting up a base at Winslow. Alpha would fortify the building and use it as a rallying point to bring in civilians. Bravo squad, which she partly joined, would drive back and forth between while faring civilians as they completed new bunkers.
"Rules of engagement?" A solemn voice asked, and Taylor couldn't place it.
"As of now, only when fired upon or a 'grave' threat is detected. Aim to kill, normals or capes, it makes no difference."
A moment later, Taylor sucked it up and connected to Missy. "Missy, um, you know your job?"
"Yes, get the bus away from any fights." Missy yawned. "What did I miss? Everyone's been quiet. How could you let me fall asleep?" She whined.
"I'll tell you later, I promise," Taylor said, and Missy only grunted as she disconnected.
She now had the last member of her little squad, one that she had almost smashed in the face. "Tammi."
"..."
"Keep your mouth shut and do your job." The connection cut without a response as Taylor gritted her teeth. She couldn't stop herself. Something about Tammi and her actions unleashed a temper that Taylor didn't understand or could control.
Taylor navigated a few menus to bring up the views outside the trucks and buses as the Alpha squad loaded up and settled in with large packs on their backs. The armor they wore was much the same as the Bravo squad in that it only covered the front and back of their torsos, their heads, thighs, and upper arms. It was far lighter than her own but lacked the support that cancelled out the heft of her own. But the helmet they had was much the same.
Everyone loaded up in short order while two drones crawled onto the top of the bus, making it sag under the weight. "Let's roll out." Big Dog said, from his spot on the first truck at the front of the convoy.
Taylor leaned against the door as the truck slid into motion without a sound. It was always strange without the characteristic rumble, just like how it glided over bumps without disturbing them. Lilith grumbled in their truck's channel about how she was freezing her nipples off out in the open while manning the mounted gun. Everyone ignored her because she called that position just to use the big gun.
A big puff of smoke hazed up the cabin as Taylor was glad that her helmet included an air filter. "Joe, cut that shit out," Edith said from her side, reaching forward and smacking the man.
He grunted as his hand entered Taylor's view before he flipped off Edith, and another puff filled the cabin, making it worse.
"Dick."
Grunt.
They passed through the heavy gate as it swung outwards, connecting to the burgeoning walls rising up into the sky. A few people waved at them, but as Rose said earlier, it was looking bleak, and even now, at noon, it was as dark as night, with heavy black clouds filling the sky as they rained down dust and ash.
Outside the wall, without drones with giant blowers clearing away the majority of settled dust, it piled up to almost ten centimeters. As they drove through it, they kicked up great clouds, and with Taylor's truck last in line, they couldn't see anything but the faint glow of taillights from the bus ahead of them if it limited them to regular sight. That didn't mean they couldn't see, because while the front windshield looked like a normal one, it was, in fact, a giant screen behind an armor plate, and it displayed an overlay like the one on her visor.
"So, why did you guys join up?" Edith asked, but no one said anything. "Okay… I guess I'll go first. My brother is down in Boston, and he should've been here by now. Do a few missions, and they let me use some equipment, and I can ask for volunteers to go looking for him. Joe?"
Joe grunted, holding up a smoldering cigar and tapping it, raining down ash onto the clean seat.
"You joined for cigars?"
He grunted again.
"Of course. Redshirt?"
"I hate that god-damn name."
Edith laughed, "Do you think I like Edith? The fucker, it's Monica."
"Steven, but that ass won't go for it. I joined to get rid of all the shrapnel filling me right up. My family's here too, so why not make the place a little safer?"
"Good on you." Edith lightly slapped his shoulder as he continued to drive. "Lilith?"
"Mind your fucking business."
They continued to chat as Taylor used what living bugs there were to feel around the cold buildings. The number of families huddling up under blankets without food in sight twisted her stomach. But that was why they were going out, to provide a safe passage back. Not that she knew how Miles and Rose intended to house three hundred thousand people or more. That wasn't her problem.
"What about you, Weaver?"
Taylor blinked. "What?"
"Why are you out here?"
"Um, it sort of just happened."
"So you're not getting anything from it?"
"Well, no. I, um, have a bed and a room to myself."
Edith gave her a light punch on the arm. "You lucky bitch."
"Where do you stay then?" Taylor asked.
"I got one of those rooms in the bunker all to myself now, but it's empty. So I'm sleeping on the floor." Edith twisted her neck, cracking it. "Damn hard. Hey, do you have room for another? I'd make it worth your while." She elbowed Taylor.
Taylor turned away from Edith, looking out the narrow window and trying to hide the blush.
"God damn, Edith, Empress just killed someone for trying to rape a kid. Weaver's like sixteen?" Redshirt said from the front.
"Who said I was trying to have sex with her?"
"You fucking were."
"Hey, I've slept on the ground enough in my life, and I'm sick of it! Eating a peach is an easy price to pay for some comfort. We're both girls, so what's the harm?"
"Don't come crying to me when you get your head ripped off."
"So what do you say?" Edith asked.
Taylor kept looking out the tiny window, not daring to look at Edith. "I'm good." She squeaked out.
"Damn it."
Taylor ignored the rest of the conversations as they traveled unimpeded to Winslow. The few people she saw quickly disappeared when they saw how heavily armed they were. No roadblocks or any other obstructions blocked their way, unlike the time they traveled to the PRT. Which reminded her that the majority of the PRT would be settling in tomorrow, and that meant Sophia would be there, combined with Emma. She sighed, hoping that Madison had died, but knowing her luck, she was at Winslow right now.
"ETA one minute; get ready to disembark." Big Dog said.
A quick check had everything in place. She had one mag of armor-piercing on her right hip and three frangible mags on the left. Another click had her squad on comms. "Tammi, do some circuits in the air around the area and report back any movement. Missy, I want you to warp us up to the roof."
"Sure!" Missy responded with her new source of chipper joy, just lovely.
Nothing came from Tammi as her channel cut, making Taylor sigh again. She sucked at this. The truck rolled to a stop, and she unlatched the door before stepping out into the cold air. Even the end of the world didn't change how depressing the school looked. But the coating of dust gave it an air of concealment that was a little better with how it hid the worst vandalism.
Missy hopped off the bus, holding her rifle towards the ground, and it still looked ridiculous with how it was almost three-fourths of her height. She skipped towards Taylor, brimming with energy, "Ready?" She chirped.
"No."
"That's too bad!"
Space twisted in upon itself as Taylor struggled to find which way was up, just as up and down weren't the opposite of each other. She stepped forward, trusting Missy to bring them to the right spot. The next moment, Taylor was looking across the flat top of Winslow with her feet sinking into the covered roof. Off to the side was the same access she used to hide up here just weeks ago.
Down below, Bravo squad set up a loose guard around the vehicles, with Lilith and Seaman taking a break inside the warm cabins. Tammi soared into the sky, zipping off as she spiraled around the area. Alpha squad formed up into two teams of five before entering the school with their guns raised. The two drones dropped off the bus before they set about dragging cars closer to the school.
Taylor didn't pay them any attention, keeping her eyes peeled for anyone making a move. She also sent Missy over to the other side to watch. After ten minutes or so of mindless boredom, she connected to Missy. "So, how was the drive over?"
"Ugh, so boring! Bob didn't talk, and Forest was all like, "Pay attention. You never know when something will go wrong." and then I just sat there as Alpha squad barely moved! What about you?"
"Oh, only learned that they are getting paid in their own way. Did you know most people are still sleeping on a floor?"
"Wait, really? Emperor gave me this bed that is amazing." Taylor blinked. No twelve-year-old should make noises like that. "Heh, that might be why I was so angry this morning."
"Yeah, they are pretty nice." Taylor agreed, but she was still dubious about it, considering that the bed had to be plugged in. Tinkers were bullshit; Miles and Rose were even more so.
"What's up with you and Tammi?"
"Nothing."
"Are you sure? Because I didn't think she had said a word, and she always has something to complain about."
"Just a… disagreement."
"Did you kiss?"
"What?"
"Oh, so you're not seducing the evil nazi to the lesbian ways?"
Taylor coughed. "Again, what? I like guys, big muscular ones."
"Reeeaaalllyyy?"
"YES!"
"Sure."
"Ugh."
"Are you going to steal Emperor from Empress then? Isn't she your older self? So I guess that makes sense."
"NO!" Taylor's face burned. What was with everyone making everything sexual? She buried what happened there and saw that night deep down again and threw away the shovel. The last thing she heard was Missy laughing as she left the channel. Everyone was treating it like the world was ending… right, it was.
She watched the sky in between glances downwards. A set of coilgun shots streaked upward, over her head. The distant bangs were barely audible. Far above the dark clouds, faint flashes of light ebbed before a constant stream of shots flew, and soon after that, a section of the sky lit up in a series of lights.
The clouds that kept Earth in the dark suddenly blew open, and a flare of fire turned the gloom to daylight. Streaks of flame exploded away as one meteor turned into hundreds. They continued their path above Taylor's head, still high in the sky, before disappearing over the horizon. A series of booms that rattled her bones hit the city in a cascade. Daylight continued to stream through the rapidly closing hole in the clouds.
Another flash lit up the horizon before fading away. The whole ordeal, lasting a minute, had Taylor trembling. That was one of the closest impacts since the first day. She couldn't help herself as she connected to the network pervading the city. Instead of Miles or Rose, a computerized voice answered.
"How can I help you, Ms. Hebert?"
"That was really close! Are we in danger?"
"The meteor you are most likely talking about impacted 512 km to the east in the Atlantic Ocean. Estimated air blast in twenty-five minutes. No projected damage. Tsunami, in one hour and twelve minutes, with a projected amplitude of two and a half meters, with minimal damage to the wave breaker. The chance of it surviving premature detonation via coilgun was .16%. "
"Oh, thank you, um, do you have a name?" Taylor asked.
"Do… I… have… a… name?" The voice drew out, warping at the end. After a minute of silence. "No, I do not." And they cut the connection off.
Taylor was getting kind of sick of people cutting her off in the middle of a conversation. She still didn't know who that was or her name.
"Mother, do I have a name?"
Rose dropped her tools and stared directly at the computer terminal before a grin stretched across her face. She snapped to the side as Miles regarded her with a single raised eyebrow and took a step back. That didn't save him as she grabbed him in her arms, lifting him into the air and shaking him. "We have a daughter!"
Miles blinked and facepalmed.
"Yes, the third floor, room thirty-one twenty-eight, unlocked with the provided wristband. Showers and restrooms are on either end of the hallways. Keep it clean, please. Food is available in the first-floor cafeteria. Yes, green smoothies are the only thing available, and yes, they taste better than they look." Danny gave his spiel to the next family he processed and ignored the distant booms, as they would either kill him or not. There was nothing he could do about it.
The family he was processing wasn't as carefree by the way they were twitching. He tried not to judge, but the father had that sunken look most druggies have, and the mother's eyes were fully dilated. At least the two kids looked healthy. He wouldn't tell them, but that smoothie would not play nice with the drugs in their system. It also didn't play well with too much alcohol, as he learned the hard way.
Another set of questions and an aid directed them to their new home. Danny put the rest of their information into the computer system, and then a shiver went down his back, and his stomach clenched. Something just changed.
It felt like Taylor had just set something into motion. She shook her head, returning to her watch. The series of air blasts washed over right on time, nothing more than slight gusts of wind and a roar after each one. Down below, a stream of people bundled up in thick clothes trudged out of Winslow before climbing onto the bus. Each person had a single suitcase with them. Taylor counted sixty in the end.
"We're rolling out in five. Get into positions." Big Dog ordered. A series of confirmations followed, with Lilith and Seaman retaking their positions.
Missy appeared by Taylor's side, and she sighed as space warped around her yet again. The next moment, they were back at street level, with Tammi drifting down on her platform. There wasn't anything for Taylor to directly do, so she buckled herself into the five-point harness, happy that she had a layer of armor between her and the awkward straps. Otherwise, the trip would be severely uncomfortable.
Edith, Joe, and Redshirt all followed, and they were off. A ten-minute drive each way, and with Alpha squad set up in Winslow, the next trip would be loaded on all the faster. The scheduler, it was a shock when she found that, had it as the only trip today, with the next day having five and ten trips each after that. Spending four hours a day driving back and forth sounded like shit, but it had only taken them two days to fully clear out the bay of salvageable material and now they were out of work.
The drones cut the ships up into manageable sections, Tammi lifted it with her power, and Missy cut the travel time into a tenth. It made her question how come no one had cleaned up the bay earlier with how many capes were running around.
Not that the bay would stay liquid for long. Taylor had peeked at the long-term forecasts Miles made and was damn glad to have her climate-controlled suit and cozy room. In one month, the highs would be 0 Celsius at the equator, with only the oceans keeping the air warm. She really didn't want to know what it would be like a year from now.
A shrill beep ripped Taylor from her thoughts as she glanced up just in time to see a gigantic armored abomination of a vehicle, worse than anything Miles would make, fly through the intersection ahead and disappear in front of the bus before reappearing on the other side with the lead truck smashed against the front plow. It crossed the four-lane road before punching into a brick building. The truck and the front half of the machine disappeared under the debris.
She just had time to blink before the bus disappeared, and all that was left was a man in a ragged bundle of clothes with his hands pointed at where the bus once was and a greenish-blue glow covering the road from one side to the other. With the distance between each vehicle at a hundred meters, she couldn't see much else, but it was enough for her to trigger her implants. A moment later, the bus slammed into the ground, bouncing back into the air before skidding well past the man blocking the way.
"That's Skidmark!" Missy yelled through the network.
The truck Taylor was in twisted hard to the side as Redshirt ripped the steering wheel. Flashbacks of Rose's mad dash hit her as she slammed the heel of her hand against the quick release of her harness and pulled open the door at the same time. The armor would keep her alive because she wasn't having any of that!
Then the reason Redshirt yanked the wheel so hard presented itself when a deafening metal crunch and the resulting jostle sent Taylor into the back of Joe's seat. The front of the truck dropped, throwing her into Edith with a wet crunch before hitting the roof, then the floor as the entire world whirled. It all happened in slow motion, her limbs too slow to stop herself with each toss and tumble as the truck rolled. She flew away from Edith on the next, bouncing off the seat before passing through the same door she had just opened.
In slow motion, Taylor left the truck, which was missing the whole front end, her body nothing more than a rag doll. Lilith tumbled across the road, leaving streaks of blood behind. It rolled once more before crashing into the corner of a building. She turned her eyes and head at a glacial pace, noticing for the first time that the crude machine that smashed the first truck had a large smoking turret on top. It was some unholy combination of plow truck and tank. From the intersection where it came from, rag-tag groups of people ran out. She counted twenty from each side and another couple pointing guns from windows as Skidmark screamed.
The next second, Taylor slammed into a wall after her ejection. Air exploded from her lungs as her vision flashed, and a deep coolness followed by static shocked her. As she reeled from the impact, she tumbled through the air before hitting the ground. Her ears rang, and her artificial heart beat faster than she could count, even with the world slowed. She pulled a startlingly frigid breath in and pawed at her rifle, still miraculously strapped to her.
People were yelling both through the network and out into the open, but Taylor couldn't understand any of it. Her vision blurred and spun. She tried to push herself up, but nothing was moving right. Cracks of a coilgun firing, soon followed by gunshots, thundered around her.
Joe had pulled himself from the wreck, limping on one leg out into the open. He shot round after round at the rag-tag ambushers, sending streaks of blood through the air as metal slugs brutalized living people. Return fire pinged off his armor harmlessly.
If a sixty-year-old ex-hobo could do it, Taylor could too. She swung her rifle around in leaden hands, the automatic aiming system engaging as it locked onto a man's head while he half hung out and fired from a window above.
But Taylor couldn't pull the trigger.
She couldn't take a life.
Her stomach sunk.
The automatic system disengaged as Taylor lowered to aim at the windowsill and fired. A spray of shrapnel elicited a shrill scream of pain before he tumbled back inside. She swung from one to the next as fast as her limbs could move while she lay crumbled on the ground. Each received a spray of bricks, but still could not kill.
"You motherfucking cunts! Get back here with my hostages, cocksuckers!" Skidmark screamed from the side, still standing out in the open.
Joe turned from gunning down the helpless to shooting at Skidmark, but he deflected each round Joe fired off a glowing blue area. Skidmark raised his gun and fired a shot, a crack louder than their coilguns drowned out the bang, which rattled her as Joe tumbled to the ground amidst a spray of blood.
The knot in Taylor's stomach twisted as she fought against her useless body, pushing herself up with everything she had as chemical concoctions turned her veins red-hot. More shots rang out from the crashed truck, and she tried to disregard the arm limply hanging from the driver's side door. She lined up a shot against Skidmark, the willingness to avoid killing gone with the onset of buzzing in her head and a sharpness that peeled away any and all distractions. A trigger pull had her rifle dump six rounds a second at him. She examined how each shot slid to the side, missing him by a scant half meter. As she did, she twisted her aim to the side, bullets deflecting in a new direction until one zinged into Skidmark's arm. Before she could home in, the man screamed derogatory remarks at her, and he swished his arms around as new blue-green fields sprung to life.
Taylor's rifle ran dry as she ejected the magazine, pulling the armor-piercing one from her right hip. Maybe a high-powered round would make it. What felt like a punch from God crunched into her torso, shattering the armor plate into a million specks of dust as she stumbled back a step, dropping the magazine she was loading.
"That's right, you bitch, eat my fat wad!"
The following shots blew massive holes into the building behind Taylor as she crouched, snagging the magazine in her hand.
Taylor felt no fear.
She tracked the barrel of Skidmark's gun, before moving away from where it was pointing and ducking under its line of fire. A new overlay sprung up on her visor, illustrating the very method she used to dodge his shots.
What they left of the ambush groups lay dead or screaming on the road, with the rest having run off, broken and defeated. The wheels on the tinker tank squealed against the building it was embedded in. It pulled Taylor's attention away, letting her observe that the turret on top of the crude tank was now aimed at the wreck of her old truck. Where Lilith, Edith, and the hopefully still-living Redshirt were.
Taylor managed to slide the new magazine into place, still dancing around an irate Skidmark's bullets. Once into place, she dialed up the power to maximum, braced, and fired at the tank. A crackling green shield sprung to life as the point she aimed at, the flat rear just under the crude turret, turned near blinding white. She staggered back under the recoil, trying to force the system to fire again, but the overheating interrupted her. The CR-01 glowered red in her hands and steamed in the cold air, then the gun shattered in her grip as a bullet from Skidmark clipped her arm. The lance of pain snapped her out of the mental trance as she saw the battery pack blast out a thin blue laser-like gas while it tumbled through the air and melted the ground into a puddle where it landed.
Another full-powered armor-piercing shot exploded out of the wreck, hitting the tank as the shield snapped, sending arcs of electricity through the air but leaving it undamaged. Taylor stumbled to the side, her arm broken, before running away from the battery.
"Stop your fucking pissant dodging and stay motherfucking still!" Skidmark screamed while the building behind Taylor tore away in a spray of red brick.
As a last hope, Taylor pulled every bug she could from the nearby buildings, and the second they hit the freezing air, they slowed, the smallest dropping in moments. She vowed from this day on that she'd either find bugs that could stand the cold new world or have Miles make them for her. The only reason she was alive was the implants and armor that had nothing to do with her powers. In fact, if they equipped any of the other vets on the squad with what she had, they would've done so much better.
Then the tank moved, but not under its own power. It lifted off the ground, slightly spinning in the air as it left the building it was stuck in. Skidmark stopped trying to kill Taylor, gaping at the flying tank. The next moment, it rocketed at him.
"FUCK-" A massive wave of blue covered the ground in front of Skidmark as the tank slammed into his power. It hung there, in midair, as whatever force pushed it toward him fought against his power.
Taylor glanced at the hole and saw Tammi half spilled out of the crushed truck, arm raised. There wasn't a moment to lose as her helmet flashed, notifying her that Tammi wouldn't stay conscious for long. Taylor took her bugs and drove them at Skidmark while bringing up her functional left arm and running at him. The taser unfolded while cockroaches struggled to navigate the thick layers covering the man. Goggles and a mask kept them out of his face.
Each step she took sent waves of dulled pain. Once within range, she toggled the taser. Twin blue beams illuminated the air before Skidmark seized, and the tank rocketed through his power. The next moment, a spray of bloody chunks splattered down the street as the tank hit the pavement, dug in deep, before flipping and rolling down the road, metal plates flying off. It came to a stop, the frame groaning, and a weary quietness descended even through the moans of the injured.
Taylor took one last look at the chunks of flesh and torn clothes that once were Skidmark and ran back to her wrecked truck. She dodged around the assorted dying men covering the ground, her boots keeping a firm grip even through the disgusting blood-dust combination, and she kept a distance from a growing puddle of molten road the battery was making. There was a medical kit in the truck, and the number of soon-to-be-dead squad mates was growing by the moment.
"Lilith! Edith! Status?" She called out through pained, burning breath.
"Fucked up," Edith grunted. "We got Redshirt stable; Lilith's in shock."
"Shit, shit, shit," Taylor muttered as she ran past Joe, the surrounding ground a red-black mix. Even if her helmet said he was alive, it didn't look like it for long. She tapped into Missy's comms. "Missy, can you get back here quickly?"
"Taylor? Yeah! Bob, we're going back. Just keep driving straight!"
"Not again…" A voice muttered before a chorus of groans could be heard over Missy's helmet.
Taylor cut it off as she rounded the flipped truck. They propped Lilith up against the side, rifle in hand, with the uniform ripped on her legs and arms as rivers of blood oozed down. She was covered head to toe in thick gray dust as an occasional shiver rocked her body.
Then Taylor saw Redshirt. Both of his legs were gone below the knee, with tight tourniquets tied on and foam covering his stumps. Only the sheer amount of gore witnessed and willpower let her keep her lunch down, but it still rolled her stomach. Edith was by and far the least visibly injured, with a broken right arm at the elbow, which might've been Taylor's fault. Edith held up the medical kit for her, and Taylor grabbed it with both hands, ignoring the lancing pain as she used the armor suit to move her broken arm. She briefly considered using painkillers, but when she tried them before, she didn't like how they made her act.
"The bus is on the way back," Taylor said.
"Are we good? Hostiles down?"
"Yeah, they aren't getting back up."
"I don't think many of us are," Edith mumbled, rechecking Redshirt.
Lilith snorted from the side. "Did you get'em?"
"Who?"
"The cape."
The moment Skidmark emulated his name flashed by. "Yeah."
"Good."
The first person Taylor stopped by was Joe, somehow still conscious with a smoldering cigar in his mouth. He waved her off with a grunt, but she could see the giant hole that went through his armor and abdomen. She cracked open a packet, her eye twitching in pain, and poured it into the wound. It bubbled and foamed before expanding and turning hard.
"You'll live. Help's on the way."
"Great," Joe mumbled, with a sigh that said far more. "Any chance you can pull that gunk out and let me pass?"
"No!"
Joe sighed again, thumping his helmet against the road as he puffed his cigar. Taylor left him there as she ran across the street to the other truck embedded in the building. Tammi slumped to the side, completely unconscious by that point, and Taylor saw the damage. Her whole right side dented inward, and blood oozed from gaps in her armor.
Taylor checked the harness and saw it had already disengaged before pulling Tammi from the surprisingly still accessible door. Once on the ground, Taylor injected her through a port before moving on. Seaman was stable on his own, just broken limbs and knocked unconscious. She couldn't get Big Dog free but injected him. Without full limb protection like Tammi, it wasn't pretty. The same for Alright in the driver's seat, with a metal tube from the building piercing through the armored door and into his left leg. At least Missy would make it easier to free them.
It was at that point that Taylor slightly relaxed, covered in the blood of her team, and concluded that her life was cursed. The adrenaline subsided, and the true extent of her injuries made themselves known. Everything hurt so much. She whimpered, lying down on the rubble and triggering the painkillers.
