Chapter 38: Reunion Round

The street glowed white hot under the intensity of a small man-made sun. Nuclear fire literally melted asphalt, concrete, and steel into puddles of sludge, shockwaves shattered surrounding buildings like glass, and anything vaguely incendiary burst into flame. In one blinking instant, two entire city blocks were obliterated from the map.

Tough as it was, Stitches didn't even stand a chance.

Unfortunately for the Marines who fired the warhead, they grossly underestimated the destructive range the bomb possessed. They were nearly fried by the explosive blast as they tried to gain distance with the Warthog.

"Drive faster!" Mann screamed, trying not to look behind.

"What the hell do you think I've been doing all day!" Leo yelled back, jamming his foot onto the accelerator.

Over Robles

"HOLY SHIT!"

Karla heard the pilot scream in surprise, and felt the Pelican suddenly swerve left, sending unrestrained equipment and men slamming into the side of the dropship. Through the cockpit door, she could see the bright flare of an artificial sun.

"What the in hell was that!" Williams groaned. He was one of the Marines unlucky enough to be sitting in the Pelican unrestrained.

Tarin growled, "It won't matter because I'll shoot you if you don't get off of me in the next five seconds."

Karla ignored the banter and made her way to cockpit.

"Tell the Pelicans to land at the edge of the blast zone." She said firmly.

"What?" The pilot was caught off guard by the sudden command. "But there's not enough space for all of the dropships to land."

She batted the remark aside. "Then hover. We'll rope in if we have it."

"Can't this wait until the port?"

"I know a nuclear detonation when I see one, and there's only one thing on this planet that would have access to nukes. Us."

The pilot nodded and relayed the orders to the other Pelicans.

On the ground

"That," Leo gasped, "Is absolutely the LAST time we give the Sarge anything that's even vaguely nuclear powered."

Paccone smirked and shouldered the launcher. "Hey, at least it killed Stitches."

"I hope so. Damn thing never stops."

"Hey," Mann cocked his head in curiousity. "Do you hear something?"

The three Marines looked up and saw a flight of Pelicans hovering above their heads. Marines were roping down from the rear of the dropships, and a few Pelicans dropped off Warthogs onto the street.

"I believe the cavalry has finally arrived." Paccone smiled.

"About damn time." Leo groaned, "I could use the extra rest."

"Sergeant Paccone!"

The sudden, sharp voice startled Leo. He had never heard anybody call the Sarge by his name and rank at the same time. He turned and thought he saw Sam, though he realized that it couldn't be true. She looked like Sam, though she was slightly older, wore a different unit and rank badge, and had that intensity and charisma that Leo usually expected to see in officers, very much like Sarge himself. Paccone meanwhile turned. Leo swore he saw surprise and recognition flash across Paccone's face for a brief second, though he quickly recovered and saluted. The Captain eyed Paccone for several seconds, shook her head, and then finally spoke.

"Ronald Paccone, why is it that I'm not surprised to see you here?"

Elsewhere

Kumi gasped and got up. She suddenly couldn't remember what had happened during the last few minutes, only that she was riding the Warthog and then suddenly was blinked into this abandoned street. She glanced over and saw Sam lying next to her, similarly unconscious.

What happened?

Still confused at what was going on, Kumi casually reached around and was surprised to find a shotgun and a pile of shells lying next to her. She didn't have much time to think about however. Sam groaned blinked in surprise, and got up from the ground, similarly dumbfounded at where she was?

"Did you just-?"

Kumi nodded, "Yeah."

They heard the distant groan of zombies. From the sound of it, they couldn't be too far away.

"Let's get out of here." Kumi whispered.

Sam nodded and followed her down the dank and dark alley, unaware that they were being watched.

"That was an awfully close one."

"Far closer than I would like to admit."

"That was a pretty smooth move there, cooking that beast thing and getting Sam and Kumi out of there, and modifying their memories in the process."

"I have directly interfered with the physical plane, that is nothing to be proud of."

"True. Even I though that nuclear blast as a distraction was going a little overboard."

"I was not involved in that."

"Huh? Oh yeah, still gotta get used to the whole 'omnipresent' thing."

"I believe the Elders were right in their reservations about accepting you."

"Was that a joke? You're finally learning!"

If Scohar actually had a physical head, he would've been shaking it right now.

Nuke Crater

"What's wrong, surprised to see me?" Paccone smirked.

Karla grinned and looked around. "Nuclear holocaust, dead bodies all over the place, a town completely devoid of life, yeah, I'm pretty sure it involved you somehow."

"Ummm, Sarge?" Leo stepped forward. "Is this something I should know about, or is this one of those 'just keep walking' moments?"

Karla took a momentary glance at Leo, and had to fight to keep the surprise from showing on her face. She distinctly remembered this kid. Leonardo, she believed that was his name. He was Sam's best, if not only, friend. Karla vividly recalled the letters Sam used to send her about all the great times she had with him. What a weird coincidence.

"So," Paccone continued, "What brings a fine, upstanding female officer like you to a run down, zombie infested dump like this?"

"The same reason why a lowly, son of a bitch sergeant is lurking around in a shithole like this." Karla retorted.

Paccone laughed. "How long has it been? Haven't seen you since Menza Gamma, and that was what, one, two years ago?"

"Two." Karla answered. "Suffice to say, those were the best years in my life."

"That's not a polite thing to say, captain."

"Okay," Karl sighed, "Let's cut the crap and get straight to the point. I assume your having problems here of the undead kind. And before you even ask how I know, we've had our little problems as well."

"Right, well, I recommend nothing short of nuking this dump, but there's still a group of civilian survivors holed up here, and two of my people are MIA." Paccone's grim tone betrayed his doubt that any were still alive.