(A/N: please pardon me if I have any flaws regarding the firearms mentioned in this chapter. I'm aware that the military does not use revolvers, Uzis, or submachine guns (other than the M-16 and the X-13), and I know that the military would never store them as carelessly as I write here. It's all for the flow of the story)
Before Perfection
by The Great Red Dragon
Chapter 22
Once I was out in the road, I hopped upon the top of a passing car and rode most of the way to the military base; the driver seemed to be headed in that direction.
I'm lucky that it was a warm night, or I would've froze to death up there, with the wind whipping at my body…but it was surprisingly exhilarating and fun to play this like a secret mission, what with all of the conditions being right for me…
Cold wind, rain, or any other weather-disfluency would've probably damaged my morale.
Once I spotted the lights of the military base, I jumped off, and I trudged the last mile (for safety) until I came upon a threshed metal fence about eight feet high that walled the perimeter of the abandoned base.
Beyond that (with my enhanced vision), I could see several large bunkers and cargos lined up in set-order, and beyond that were several empty-looking apartment buildings.
Ghost base…
I climbed over the barbed wire lining of the fence without receiving a scratch. I didn't see anybody around, so I was pretty stealth-less as I made my way across the brown, dying grass and over to the bunkers. Once I got in close, I noticed that a few men in uniform were patrolling among the place. More importantly, they were carrying guns, but looked mildly bored about their assignment.
I slinked down as far as I could go into the dead nettles and made it to the side of one of the large, concrete bunkers. I climbed up its side (about fifty feet) and scuttled over to its head, completely out-of-view from anybody.
I wondered how I would be able to find out in which cargo the weapons were kept in without checking each of them out. Graciously, two men that stood on either sides of the bunker's doorway below me answered this question pretty clearly.
I overheard their conversation and crawled down and close for some information.
"What the Hell do they keep in these things anyway?", a man with a deep voice was saying to the other irritably.
"Bunkers one through four are only used for reserve uniforms", the other man answered, by the book.
"Number five holds ops equipment, office materials and supplies are in number six, and vehicles are in number seven."
"What's in number eight?", the other guy asked.
The informant shrugged.
"Dunno", he said.
That had to be it; where the weapons would be.
Springing away from the conversation and back into the grass soundlessly, I made straight for the last bunker. I think one of the men might've heard me; he looked my way once. But I smugly knew he wouldn't be able to see me.
Once I reached my destination, I jumped and clung onto the curving wall and climbed my way to the top of the bunker: opening the main doors would definitely alert the guards, so I knew I would have to find a vent or something on top.
And I did: I found a small sun-roof atop the gigantic building, just my size. I pried it open and climbed in.
Through the darkness, I was reminded how big this building was: about two commercial airliners would've fit tightly into a structure like this.
The place was very well kept...well, in a sense. There was an amount of dust resting on top of everything, but it looked as if everything had been neatly put away before the door was closed (and never opened again).
Several large lockers lined the end of the bunker, as well as tables. On these tables rested machine parts, neatly lined and sorted. Empty tool racks crossed around the walls, seemingly skeleton-like.
I let go and fell to the floor (which was quite a drop) and looked around. I knew that I would need some light before I started looking.
I wandered over near the entrance doors and found a switch. I flipped it with a snap, and about half of the lights went on, and the others flickered feebly in the dimness.
I went for the obvious, which were the lockers. It took me about a minute to jog across the length of the cargo center, and I was surprisingly out of breath.
The lockers loomed over in me in a way that suggested they knew I was trespassing. I eyed the locks on their knobs, and wondered what would be the best way to break them open. In the end, I simply grabbed one of them between my fingers, gave it a quick yank, and the decaying rust did the rest of the work for me. There was a small cracking sound, and the door fell open.
I smiled happily as I looked gloatingly upon my prize. I began to skip to and fro in front of the other lockers, tearing off the locks as I did. Door after door opened, revealing pistols, machine guns, grenades, and boxes upon boxes of ammunition. A laugh escaped my lips, and I felt like a kid inside Toys R Us.
It was wonderful!
I began lining up the weapons on the floor by class, and walked among them, scratching my chin as I pondered diligently what I would take. I had to consider my physical size, which pretty much made it impossible for me to man anything bigger than an X-13. An M-16, which I would've loved to have taken, was out of the question (it was almost twice the size of me!).
I found a nice big-pouched bag to carry my stuff in; it would've been very inconvenient if I were to walk around with my arms full of guns and bullets. I unzipped the many separate carriers and stuffed in the arms I had decided to take: two small 9mm pistols, a remarkably small shotgun, a .32 caliber revolver, two hand grenades, and two Uzis. In the remaining pouches, I gathered together as much ammunition and magazines as I could.
Now I felt very dominant. The weaponry of humans wasn't nearly as advanced as mine, but these things would be very helpful nonetheless.
I slung the bulging bag over my shoulder proudly, and as I did, the edge of the bag hit the side of one of the lockers.
A domino-effect went into play as I cringed, and everything standing close to the cargo's walls was thrown over, with enough of a ruckus to awaken the dead...or at least the guards. Tables, lockers, and metal shelves clanged unceremoniously to the floor.
I didn't wait for them to come and find me; I climbed like Hell up the curving wall and towards the sunroof. I was just lifting my leg out of the bunker when I heard the front doors crashing open, and a broad voice shouted who was in there.
Without pausing, I made a gallant leap from the top of the building as far as I could onto the ground. One of the guards heard me as I landed (remember how much ammo I'm carrying), as he yelled to his comrades;
"He's over there! Come on!"
I started to run, but the huge bag clinging to my body slowed me down greatly. Behind me, I heard a different member of security shout;
"FREEZE! Stop now, or we will open-fire!"
I think they were just shouting in the direction they generally assumed I was, because I don't think that it was possible for them to see me in the darkness. So of course I didn't stop, and then the bullets started to fly. They were shooting about three feet above me, but it was still very disconcerting to be fired upon.
I squinted my eyes and ran full-out for the fence. About four feet from it, I made such a jump up-and-over that I cleared the barrier easily. I continued to run, even though the bullets had stopped, and I ran for the road again, and grabbed onto the very first car that past in the direction of Mana.
Once the car pulled into the city, I jumped off and made way for Riley's house. The window I had left through was still open, allowing me to crawl back into the house. I glanced at the clock once I was back inside the warm, lighted house, and saw that it was past midnight. Apparently, my run for the weapons had taken longer than I had thought.
I found Riley in the kitchen, with the small TV/radio on. He was half-asleep in his chair, and didn't notice me when I entered.
"Riley!", I hissed while prodding him into consciousness.
"Riley! I got the guns!"
Riley looked at me dazedly through one eye.
"No, Auron, I don't want another beer, and I don't think you should have one either."
Then he fell asleep: face-first on the table.
I stared at him with friendly amusement for a moment, smiling.
I set down the bag and went over to the television to turn it off. But before I did, I caught the last headline, uttered by the beautiful reporter with the brown hair;
"-This just in: we have received reports that the unused military installation near the city of Mana has been robbed. We are not yet sure what the culprits took, but-"
I switched it off.
Helpfully, I literally carried Riley upstairs to his room and settled him onto his bed. Then I went back downstairs, drank some juice, and listened to 'Tease Me, Please Me' by the Scorpions before I went back upstairs and snuggled myself under Riley's sprawled-out arm.
Hoo, boy…what a night.
(A/N: Disclaimer: 'Toys R Us' is copyrighted, and the title, lyrics, and original recording and performance of 'Tease Me, Please Me' belongs to the Scorpions)
