Disclaimer: See the Prologue
Chapter 15 – Escape
On the surface, Misato had finally got the jeep working.
"Yeah!" she cried happily, "That's it!"
"About time too," Asuka said gruffly, then smiled, "Let's get out of here, Misato, Shinji."
Shinji snapped to attention, not from Asuka referring to him by name, but...
"What about Gordon and Rei?" Shinji asked, "We can't leave them here."
Misato stared at Shinji questioningly, then nodded. They weren't going to leave that easily.
"We'll wait for them," Misato said, sitting in the driver's seat.
"I beg your pardon!" Asuka exclaimed, "You know I'm quite anxious to leave here."
"I said we're waiting for them," Misato said firmly.
Asuka folded her arms and grumbled, "Whatever."
Misato looked at the Second Child curiously.
Back in Terminal Dogma, Gordon and Rei walked up to the elevator.
"What do we do now, Dr. Freeman-san?" Rei asked.
"We get out of here, of course," Gordon replied, allowing Rei to step into the lift first, "And one other thing…"
"What is that?" Rei asked again.
"Please, just call me Gordon," he said, "Dr. Freeman-san is starting to sound repetitive.
"I understand Dr. Free…Gordon," Rei acknowledged awkwardly.
As they travelled back up to Gendo's office, Gordon thought about those papers he acquired from the Commander's desk. They would make for interesting reading once he gets out of NERV…if he gets out of NERV.
They soon reached Gendo's office, where they stepped out once again into that dark room, leaving Terminal Dogma forever.
"Let's get out here," Gordon said.
They stepped out of the office. Gordon expected to find Kouzou lying where Gordon left him: Near the door.
"Dammit," Gordon said softly.
They found a thick trail of blood from where the Sub-Commander was lying last, that lead up the wall and into a vent. Gordon knew right away that Kouzou was done for.
'I'm sorry, Fuyutsuki,' he thought.
Gordon and Rei then heard growling echoing from the hallways.
"We must go now," Rei said.
Gordon nodded and they begun to run, expecting to be pursued. They stopped when they came across a still-alive JSSDF Grunt lying on the floor, missing an arm and a leg, lying in small pool of his own blood.
The Grunt looked up at Gordon painfully.
"Please…" he begged, "Put…me…out…of…my…misery…please."
Gordon took all that in and nodded, pulling out his pistol. He closed his eyes as he fired.
Rei on the other hand, watched as Gordon shot the Grunt between the eyes. She had never seen such a human being like Gordon.
'He bears some similarities to Pilot Ikari,' she thought, 'Like that of fearlessness, and determination.'
Gordon turned to Rei, "Let's move!"
They continued to run through the corridors, skipping past the bodies of the fallen. Gordon swore he can still hear their screams echo through out the facility.
'Godd#$#it!' he thought, 'They killed everyone. Cleaned out the whole damn complex.'
Rei however wasn't shaken by all this death. On the contrary, if Instrumentality went ahead, then she would have caused a lot more death and destruction. Even though Instrumentality wasn't meant to destroy humanity, it would have rendered the planet unhospitable.
Gordon noticed her in thought as they ran. He began to think as well.
'There are many things I don't understand here,' Gordon thought, 'Why did Gendo want to commence Third Impact? What does have to gain by dooming us all? And how can this place be connected to Black Mesa?'
He shook his head.
'This just doesn't make any sense.'
Suddenly, a huge growl stopped the both of them in their tracks. They stared down an incredibly dark hallway.
"Where does this hallway lead to?" Gordon asked Rei.
"It leads to Engineering, Gordon," Rei replied, "It seems to be a source of the invasion."
They then heard loud footsteps coming from it. Gordon saw a red dot stare down at them.
"Prepare to run, Rei," Gordon said, pushing Rei back gently.
The creature then revealed itself. Gordon's eyes widened.
"Oh, dear God no!"
It was a Gargantua, one of those behemoth fire-spewing aliens from Black Mesa. Gordon thought he wouldn't encounter every beast from Xen here, apparently he was wrong.
Gordon pulled out his Gauss Gun and aimed. He pressed the trigger…out of ammo!
"Dammit!" he cried.
The Gargantua began to plod after them. They ran for it, hearing the creature growl and trample everything in its path.
Gordon noticed a carbine in the hands of a dead Grunt. He quickly scooped it and begun firing at the creature, hitting it in the eye. It stopped to cry out in pain and rub it.
They took the opportunity to run, but when they came across another corner…
"FREEZE, MOTHERF#$#ER!"
They found a squad of JSSDF with their guns trained on them.
"Put down your weapon!" they all cried as one, "It's over."
"WOAH, WOAH!" Gordon cried, hands stretched forward in protest, "Let's not be too hasty…"
"Damn you scientist!" a young looking Grunt cried, "You killed all my buddies!."
"There is something behind us," Gordon cried, "We must…"
"Those things are everywhere!" a sergeant yelled, gun pointing at Gordon's head., "You let them come here. This all your…OH F$ ME!"
The Gargantua was hot behind them.
"KILL THAT THING!" the sergeant cried.
Forgetting Gordon, they begun to fire at it; Gordon and Rei seized the moment and ran for it. The Gargantua opened up it's flame-throwers. The Grunts screamed as they melted.
"Almost there!" Gordon cried.
They reached where they service elevator was. Gordon knew it was going to be another climb up. And he was right.
They stepped into the shaft.
"You first, Rei," Gordon said.
Rei nodded and begun to climb up. Gordon aimed his M4 at the creature and fired, once again stunning it. He let loose a grenade and it struck, knocking the creature back some. Gordon then grabbed the ladder and begun climbing as well.
A minute of climbing later, Gordon looked down the long shaft.
'Thank God I got over Vertigo in the third grade,' he thought, relieved.
Suddenly the whole complex rumbled with the Gargantua's cry.
"Gordon, I…AH!" she cried, loosing her grip. She fell off the ladder.
Thinking fast, Gordon grabbed her hand, stopping her fall.
"Thank you Gordon," Rei said, before gently grabbing the ladder again.
They soon reached the top, where surprisingly they found Misato, Shinji and Asuka waiting in a military jeep.
Shinji was the first to notice them walk tiredly out of the elevator shaft.
"IT'S THEM!" Shinji cried, "YOU GUYS, THEY'RE ALIVE!"
Misato smiled, seeing Gordon and Rei alive. Gordon returned the smile and walked up to the jeep.
"You waited for us?" Gordon asked.
Misato nodded.
Gordon got in the jeep next to Misato, while Rei squeezed between Shinji and Asuka in the back. She turned to Shinji.
"Hello Pilot Ikari," she greeted Shinji, before turning to Asuka, "Pilot Sohryu."
"Er…hello Rei," Shinji replied, blushing slightly.
Asuka frowned, before turning to Misato, "Can we go now?"
Misato crashed the gears of the jeep and they drove.
"Where're we going?" Gordon asked Misato.
"Back to my place," Misato said, smiling, "For recuperation…and cocktails!"
"Thank God for that," Gordon said, breathing a sight of relief.
He just stopped Third Impact, so according to him a few drinks are in order.
