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The Other Snake: a Meryl/Solidus Fanfic

Chapter 2 : "Then he reached out to me."

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She stepped through the forest.slowly following the trail, with the gun ready by her side just in case she encounters an intruder. "I can't believe he's gotten quite far. Looks like I shouldn't have underestimated him when I had the chance."

As Meryl walked more through the forest, she noticed the blood trails becoming fresher and greater in volume. "Looks like he's nearby. Better be alert...I underestimated him once.and look where it got me: Hunting down a vicious wounded animal, who might just hurt me back."

15 minutes pass and Meryl is still trailing her prey. "Damn it. Where could he be? Well, wherever he's going, I better hope he's not leading me farther away from where Snake and Liquid may be. ..Could i.have lost him? Well, the trail seems to continue on.."

Meryl suddenly noticed the trail stopping on the ground beside one of the trees nearby. She quickly ran towards the tree and kneeled down to examine the last blotch of blood on the ground. "What the?! It ends here? But.where could he be?"

Meryl suddenly hears the branches of the tree moving and she quickly looks up, with the gun ready at her hand. A flying squirrel suddenly jumps from the tree, to glide to another one.

"Whew.....What a relief. How could I even think he could be up there? I think even he is not that strong to climb up such a tall tree, especially with that wound I gave him. You're being paranoid, Meryl. Get a grip and stay focused!"

As Meryl looked back down on the ground, she noticed something on the area by the tree's roots..

"Blood?". She quickly looked at the surrounding trees and noticed blood on some of them.."Huh? Well, seeing a clue is better than nothing."

Meryl continued to follow the blood stained trees one after another. The gap from each tree getting closer and closer and the blood on each tree greater, forming blood-stained hand prints from her wounded victim. And then, she found what she was looking for.

Solidus was leaning against a tree for support as his other hand, all red from blood, was clutching his gun wound on his stomach. Meryl can see his figure heaving and panting as he struggled to maintain his balance against the tree.

Meryl slowly pointed her gun towards his back, since he was facing the opposite direction.

"I see you've caught up with me, Ms. Silverburgh. Nice job for a rookie. Took you long though..you.you should have.caught up with me earlier..just shows..how much of.a..a rookie.you..are..."

Meryl slowly stepped towards him. Her gun still up and ready to fire any time. "Give it up, Solidus. Come with me and you'll not get hurt."

Solidus slowly turned towards her, still using the tree as a support as he did, staining the tree with even more of his blood. He was pale. The blood soaked his body, from his shirt to his pants. With handprinted blood stains on his face.

"You could never shoot me. Come on, Meryl. Shoot a defenseless old man. Show me how similar you are to the killer Snake brothers. Heheheh..You know how many people Snake killed?"

He slowly walked towards her, retaining as much balance as he could, as he let go of the now bloodsoaked tree. "Come on, Meryl.shoot me. Right here on the head. Or are you just as pansy as Snake to do that, huh?" Meryl steadied her aim "You're scared. I could feel it in your voice and I can see it In your eyes. You are scared, Solidus. Just give it up! Surrender!!!"

"Never" he whispered as he slowly limped towards her.

"I'M WARNING YOU!!!! STOP RIGHT NOW!!!!" She clicked her gun and made her aim steady. She aimed right at his heart. "I'm going to shoot on the count of three if you don't stop!!"

"They really trained you as a killer, huh? Can't you see I'm now defenseless? Heheheheeh.". Solidus was now just an arms reach away from Meryl's gun.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!!! NOW!!!!" She shouted, still holding her aim. She could see him getting paler and paler by the moment, his walk slowing down with every second. He was now just an arms reach away from her, his body point blank at her gun.

"Come on, shoot! SHOOT ME, YOU WIMP!!!! You're just justifying why girls shouldn't be allowed in the army. You.are too.too.se..se..s..nsit..i.". Solidus eyes rolled back as they closed as he collapsed on Meryl.

Being caught by surprise, she catches him, struggling to regain her balance as she feels his dead weight on her body.

"Um.Hey! Solidus?!! Are you dead?!!!" She quickly kneeled down on the ground, and then gently leaned him against a tree. Meryl searched for any signs of life. She grabbed his wrists and checked for a sign of heartbeat....

She felt it.."He's still alive.Now I don't know whether to rejoice or regret that I didn't shoot him. Maybe he's right. I am too sensitive." Meryl looked at his unconscious face.She saw him so peaceful, yet pale from all the blood loss. "This is what Snake would look like 10 years from now....Ugh! I shouldn't be thinking of such things right now!".

Meryl gently, yet quickly unbuttoned Soldius' shirt and took it off. "I don't have any bandages so this would do for now.". She then bundled up the shirt and pressed it hard against his stomach wound.

Solidus whinced as his body arched up a bit from the pain. "I'm doing this for you, you bastard! Hold still.". But the only response she got from him was a small groan.

"Dammit! The blood won't stop flowing. Oh great..probably the best shot of my life, and here I am trying to stop the death of the person I was trying to kill! Well, if I'm going to save Solidus, I might as well take the bullet out. ...Oh I'd do anything to have a first-aid kit right now."

The sound of running water slowly trailed into Meryl's ears. "Water!!! That's enough to cleanse the wound after the operation! A river maybe?" Meryl looked at him. "You're damn lucky for a bad guy, you know."..And still, she got no response. Solidus just laid there, getting paler and weaker by the moment.

"At this point, I wish I had the size of Raven." Meryl stood up, as she carefully leaned Solidus against her, with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. "Well at least you're lighter than Snake."

Meryl started to head off for the sound of the running water. She could feel the dead weight of him against her body, almost forcing her to the ground, but she couldn't stop now. Whether she liked it or not, she had to save him. Why? She didn't know. Was it because he looked so much like Snake? That the presence of him assured her that Snake would live up to his age, like foxdie didn't exist? She knew she'd never know. She just wanted to save a life. That was all..And she wanted HER snake back..and in the future she could use Solidus to get HIM back..HER snake!

Meryl's thoughts wandered off as she carried Solidus with her. After a while, she could finally see the river right ahead.

"We're here!". She ran to it with all the strength she had left as she carefully carried Solidus with her.

"Nnn." He whispered, still groggy from all the blood loss. "Where.where are we? I'm not dead yet? But.I thought you.killed me.."

"I told you.I'm not like you. And by the way, there is no time for that.". She laid him right next to the river.

"You're lucky I know how to handle such cases." She dipped her hand on the river, cleansing them.

He looked at her, with tired eyes."So you're going to drown me instead eh? Throw me in the river to see me drown? See me struggle for my life? Heheh.yeah, you're a soldier, alright. Reminded me of all the deaths in the wars I've been in."

"You could never ever trust anyone, can you? If it is death you want, I cannot give you that for now. But I sure can give you pain" She pulled her hands from the water.

"What are you doing?" He looked at her quite worriedly.

"I shot you, right? I guess it's finally time I took the bullet out." She held her hand close to his wound.

"Wait.You're just going to do this on your own?!! You don't even know how to handle such things, rookie!"

"Either you let me do this, or you die!!! So stop calling me a rookie, or I'll leave you here to rot in your death bed." She positioned her hand closer to the wound. She examined it with her eyes to see where the bullet could be.

"Oh God." Solidus pulled his head back on the ground.as he closed his eyes.

Meryl slowly inserted her hand in the wound, causing Solidus so much pain as he felt her hand through his flesh. He could feel her hand going deeper. He knew it wasn't deep enough to reach his internal organs, but with all the pain he's feeling, it was damn deep for him.

"AAAAA..AAAHH!!! OH GOD!!!" He cried out. Cried out as if he was the one on Ocelot's torture rack back in Shadow Moses.

Meryl could feel his body tensing up as she looked for the bullet, She could feel every part of him writhing in pain as she continued to look for it. She suddenly felt his hand on her free hand, squeezing it, holding it tighter with every rush of pain he got.

"Why did you have to shoot me so deep, YOU IDIOT?!!!!" She felt his hand squeeze hers as he shut his eyes closed. "DAMN YOU!!!!"

"HERE IT IS!!!" She quickly pulled her hand away, holding the bullet that was shot in there almost an hour ago.

As soon as she pulled the bullet away, Solidus' entire body collapsed on the ground. She could see his form moving up and down so fast as he breathes in all the air that he could. She swore she could see trails of tears on his cheeks. But in the situation he was just in a couple of minutes ago, who could blame him?

"I'm going to get you back, Ms. Silverburgh. I'll.I'll get you back and make you feel all that pain ten times fold."

"Yeah right. Let's see you do that behind bars." Meryl dipped his shirt in the water and slowly pressed it against his wound, cleaning it.

"Oooowww.Aaaahhh." Solidus sat up a bit, using his elbows as support as he looks at her cleaning his wound. "Be careful! I've just been through the highest pain level I could handle."

"See? Another reason why Snake is better than you. He saved me in Shadow Moses by standing up to Ocelot's torture rack." She pressed the cloth so hard against his wound to prove her point.

"YOOOOOUUUUCH!!!". He quickly grabbed her hand away from his wound as he felt the pressure against it "Just what do you think you're doing?!!!".

"Just making an enemy feel uncomfortable." She smiled back deviously as she continued to cleanse his wound.

Solidus laid back down on the ground, feeling the soft grass on the back of his head."This doesn't change anything between us, girl."

"I know that."

"You know I'll still kill you in the future if I need to, right?"

"I know."

"You are very stubborn."

"And you are one heck of a crybaby." She giggled, as she pressed the cloth hard against his wound again.

"OOWWW!!! STOP THAT!!! STOP THAT AT ONCE!!!"

"See? You can't even bear a single scratch."

"Hmph! We'll see how you'll react once I cut your arm off, Ms. Silvurburgh."

"Tsk tsk tsk.You do know you're under my control now, right?"

"...no one controls George Sears..."

"Well, you're NOT president anymore, Mr. Sears..You know what? I thought you were a good president."

"You did?"

"Yeah.until I found out you were responsible for the shadow moses and big shell incident. After that, I thought you were a complete bastard."

"Heh.well, everyone's had their glory days. Mine just ended.Now here I am, wanting to gain it all back."

"Why gain it all back? Can't you just start anew?" Meryl slowly wiped away all the remaining blood on his chest and his stomach.

"Hahaha..very funny. I'm not that kind of person, child. I'm not like your snake. Everyone thinks I'm a bastard now, so I might as well live as a powerful one."

"You're hopeless, Solidus." She slowly placed the cloth against Solidus' wound to stop excess blood loss. "Anyway, I guess that would do for now. I would not move much if I were you though. We don't want that wound freshening up again. I say you've escaped death once more."

"I know. And I've been long overdue." He slowly closed his eyes as he laid there. His breathing getting slower, as if adjusting to all this comfort.

"It's getting dark. I'll go to sleep. You better not try anything funny. I've saved you once, but I'll NEVER save you again." Meryl got no response from him. He was just laying there peacefully, with his arms and legs sprawled on the ground by the river.

Meryl smiled a bit as she feels accomplishment for saving a person's life. But this person was Solidus Snake.mostly known to the world as one bad man during the wars. Murder and manipulator. Meryl thought to herself if she did the right thing. Maybe she could have made the world better if she'd dispatched him earlier that afternoon. But she was already too tired to think of such things. Sleep was her only comfort now. Sleep and the thought of Solid Snake by her side.

Then she fell asleep. Meryl's thoughts wandered wildly that night. She dreamt of Snake in Liquid's capture. She dreamt of him and he filled her dreams. Every second of her dreams.At times she would reach out unconsciously in hopes of touching him in her sleep..But there was no Snake.no Solid Snake for her to hold..

5 hours have passed. "Snake? Snake is that you?" She whispered."Snake?".she slowly reached out her hand to touch his face. She felt half asleep and half awake, as if in a daze. But she didn't care. In this dream world, David was with her. She felt him take her in his arms, but he felt rather.uneasy.

"We have to go now, girl! Quit snoozing and wake up!!!"

Meryl suddenly shot her eyes open and saw Solidus carrying her in his arms as he trudged through the forest.