"So let me get this straight. We're going to go out there, fight through enemy-controlled territory, try to get back to the Pelican, which we don't even know the exact location of, and then find these tags, which might not be there in the first place?"
"Exactly right, private." Sarge pointed towards the trees with his shotgun. "It is of the highest priority that we obtain those tags. And I don't want to hear you whining about it. Take that to the playground where it belongs."
"Fine." Al sighed. "But I know we're gonna regret this."
I looked over the three Marines with me. Sarge stood ready in the gentle breeze, shotgun in his hands. Al leaned against the rock, SMG hanging loosely at his side. And Cough? The ODST kept watch for us several meters away.
Sarge
turned to Al. "You're sure that tracking device is on the
Pelican?"
Al nodded. "Yes, sir. I put it there before we
left."
"Good. Okay, I'm going with Cough to get the tags. I'm sorry, Josh, but you aren't moving well on that leg, and two of us can travel a lot faster."
I bit back the urge to contradict the sergeant. "Yes, sir."
He glanced at Al. "Al, if anything goes wrong while we're gone, head down the path we followed to get here. Be careful. The Covenant may still be in the area."
"Sir, are you sure about this?" Al shook his head. "I don't think just you and Cough can defeat a whole Covenant patrol."
"I've done it before, soldier." He motioned to Cough. "Come on, let's go."
I watched as the two Marines secured their equipment. "Hey, Sarge?"
He looked up. "Yeah?"
"Godspeed."
"Thank you, son." He headed towards the trampled trees. "Let's move, Cough. On the double."
They left into the trees. I watched as they left, squinting in the early morning sun. "I have a bad feeling about this, Al."
"Job, I'm the one who has the bad feelings around here." He squinted at the morning sun. "Listen, what are we going to do while Sarge is gone?"
"Wait, I guess." A pang of guilt hit my mind. "I should have remembered about those tags. How could I be so dumb?"
"Hey, it's all right." Al put a hand on my shoulder. "You're worth five soldiers, Josh."
I looked down at my feet. "You're wrong about that."
"Come on, don't you remember in Mombassa? You single-handedly—"
He stopped. I glanced up. "Why did—"
He put a finger to his lips and then pointed to a spot in the trees behind me. I turned around slowly.
A Hunter stood in the foliage. I stared at it as it raised its cannon to fire.
"Down!" Al shoved me into the dirt. A fuel rod blast soared above out heads, hitting the herd of animals behind us. One of them let out a roar and they ran away.
I rolled in the grass as another shot almost decapitated me. Al pushed me behind a rock. The next green blast nearly got him, but he dove under cover in time.
I panted next to the boulder, the sound of the fuel rod cannon charging up in my ears. I made a desperate leap from my hiding place right before it became immersed in the enemy beam.
Al fired at the alien behemoth. It swiveled to face him. Seizing the opportunity, I implanted a triplet of three-round bursts into the Hunter's soft orange spot. It let out a yell and wheeled around.
Bullets flew from Al's SMG. The Hunter trudged on through the pain and aimed at me with its cannon. I froze.
Al jumped on the alien. It swung its arm, connecting with the Marine. I heard a sickening crunch and Al landed about a dozen meters away.
That did it. I fired away at the Hunter. I kept on pulling the trigger, even after the enemy went down and my ammo counter hit zero. I don't know how long I stood there; staring at the alien corpse, rage swelling up inside my head. Then I remembered Al.
I
dashed over to him. Blood soaked his clothes and covered his face. He
managed a weak smile. "Well, I guess this is how it ends, huh,
Job?"
I cradled his head in my arms. "Al, come on, man!
You're still alive! You have to stay alive! I'll get you out of
here, but you have to stay alive! Come on!"
"Sorry, Job. I'll miss you, buddy."
His body went limp. Tears streamed down my face. "Al! Al!" I buried my head in his chest. "Al…"
I felt it all rising up then. My hatred of the Covenant. My fear of death. The sorrow for all the Marines I'd seen giving their lives. And then that first day. Me and Al started out in basic together, we'd gone through training…even ended up in the same unit.
"Why!" I stared up at the sky, the anger burning inside me. "You heard me! Why! Why did you have to take him! Why!" The sobs came again. "Why did it have to be him?"
Something grunted behind me. I turned around to see an Elite standing there. I locked eyes with the alien. My arm shook uncontrollably as I brought my battle rifle to bear. It clicked when I pulled the trigger. No ammo.
The Elite watched me, tilting its head to the side. I slid my hand underneath Al's back, feeling for his SMG. The alien lifted its plasma rifle as it said something in its alien tongue.
I grabbed hold of a plasma grenade. I pulled it out, making sure to hide it behind my back. The Elite centered his rifle on me.
I activated the grenade and threw it. It stuck on the bewildered Elite.
I had already taken Al's tag and started running when the alien exploded.
The clearing stretched on another few dozen meters. I dashed across the open expanse, praying that no Covenant had been with the Elite. I thought I heard something behind me, but I kept on running.
Finally I reached the forest's edge. I darted into the trees, gasping for breath. My knee hurt like something on fire. But I kept going.
My leg gave out and I collapsed in a heap on the forest floor. I lay in the dirt for what seemed like hours, with only the sound of birds chirping and me panting breaking the silence.
The adrenaline rush subsided, and then the shock of what had just happened hit with full force. I bit my lip, fighting back tears. I have to keep moving. I have to keep moving.
But my knee wouldn't let me stand. I tried getting up, but it failed to hold. Then I tried again. And again. And again.
At last I just gave up. I scooted over to a nearby huge tree and leaned against it. "Hold on, Josh. You're still alive." I took a deep breath. "God, please help the Sarge to find me. Help me to survive."
The fatigue and shock overtook me, and I fell asleep.
I kept having the same nightmare. Al and me were in training, running through the target practice. Suddenly a Hunter popped up from behind a barrier. I shouted at Al to duck, but I couldn't make any sound with my throat. I charged at Al, trying to save him, but pain shot through my leg. I fell, and the Hunter blasted Al.
I woke up. My hand instinctively reached for my gun. Nothing. I groaned, remembering I'd forgotten my gun in the clearing.
Great. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with no weapons, no help, and I can't walk. Well, this is just a dandy situation.
I struggled to my feet. My knee burned under the pressure. I put a hand on the tree to steady myself and then took a few steps. By some miracle of God my leg held, so I took a few more steps. Then I walked without any support.
I could actually move. A shout of jubilation almost escaped my throat, but I held it back. Didn't want any Covenant finding me.
Besides, it wasn't over yet.
It reminded me of one time, when I was a kid, I broke my arm. Of course, with treatment it got fixed up in a week, but still, I hated the feeling of being helpless, of not being able to do anything. Though I did get out of school for a little bit. I guess every cloud has a silver lining.
But now I had no medical supplies, no weapons, nothing. I leaned against the tree and contemplated my choices.
If I headed back to the clearing, I would have a chance at finding Al's gun. But Covenant could be there. Comparatively, if I tried to find the Sarge, I could run into more Covenant. That wouldn't help.
A sudden ruffling brought me from my thoughts. I peeked around the tree to see several Grunts and an Elite standing nearby. I jerked my head back before they saw me.
Footsteps neared my position. I held my breath as something moved closer and closer to my tree. Just as the Grunt came into view I acted.
I grabbed the Grunt's weapon, flipped it around, and jammed it into the alien's methane tank. Before the alien could scream, I pulled the trigger. The alien died.
The Elite barked something in its alien tongue. I dashed away, the plasma pistol still in my hand. Plasma scorched the ground by my feet. Then a plasma grenade whizzed by my ear. I dived into brush as the explosive detonated.
More enemy fire tore up the plants around me. Sudden pain jabbed my left shoulder. I ignored it and ran.
The forest continued on. A path led towards an opening. I headed down the trail, my left arm limp.
I reached the opening and skidded to a stop. A chasm stretched out before me. I almost groaned. Oh, you gotta be kidding me.
I raced along the edge of the cliff. A sound of waves echoed from below. I stopped. Waves/ That means I'm by the beach, and if I'm by the beach—
Another burst of plasma cut short my thought. I hurried onward, avoiding the brilliant green blasts streaking by. Funny, green plasma meant only the Grunts were shooting at me. Then where did the Elite go?
As if to answer my question, an Elite leapt out of the trees to land right in my way. I fell back, dodging the alien's swipe with its plasma rifle. I raised my plasma pistol and held down the trigger. The Elite fired with its own weapon. I rolled out of the way, feeling the heat of the plasma burn the ground.
I aimed with my alien pistol and fired. The Elite staggered back as its shields vanished. I fired several shots into the alien to finish the job.
I snatched up the Elite's plasma rifle. It felt light as I swiveled around and filled the air with blue plasma. The Grunts screamed. I held the trigger down, cutting through the alien soldiers. One rolled out of the way of my fire…
…straight off the cliff.
I lay back, the rush subsiding. Sweat coated my forehead. I rose to my feet, bracing against the pain from my knee.
My left shoulder throbbed. I touched it and winced. Plasma must've hit it in the battle. Luckily it was a glancing blow; the burn wasn't that bad. I'd have to get Sarge to look at it when I found him.
If I found him.
I surveyed the ground. The dead Elite's body rested on the blood-soaked ground. I knelt down and took the plasma rifle and pistol. The alien weapons didn't clip to my belt easily, but I still got them on there.
My stomach ached. I remembered I hadn't eaten anything since we left In Amber Clad. I made sure everything I needed rested on my belt, and then plodded on across the cliff.
I passed dead alien bodies from where me and Al and Cough fought earlier. I sighed. I'd gone in a complete circle from where I started. Still, I couldn't complain, not if the cliffside led to the Sarge.
I carried on. A long time passed before I reached the path down to the beach. I jogged down it.
My boots hit the sand. I headed to the Pelican. I couldn't see the Sarge, but if I waited long enough he would come eventually.
I crawled into the crashed ship. Sunlight filtered in through the cracks. Frankie and Kenny's bodies still rested in the corner. I searched the middle section of the Pelican. Supplies littered the floor, and several ammo stacks had slid into the cockpit. But no bag of tags.
I bit back several swear words that came to mind. Sarge and Cough could have already come and taken the bag. Of course, that didn't bode as well for me.
Something panged off the roof. I crouched down, fearing an explosion. After around a minute I looked up. A single rock rested on the beach outside the Pelican.
I crawled out, and, safety forgotten, spoke. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
"Well, it's about time some Marines turned up on this god-forsaken ring."
A smile crossed my lips. I knew that voice. "Well, howdy to you too, Jess." I got to my feet in front of the female Marine. "Don't you just love the weather on this place?"
(A small note: I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter to get posted. I have so many projects that I'm beginning to get a little overwhelmed. Anyway, even though this pains me to say this, I'm going to work on finishing up some of my other stories before working hard on this one. That means that it will probably take a while for the next chapter to come out. I apologize, and hope you'll still read this story. I promise that as soon as some of my other works are done I'll take this story head-on.)
