Author's Note: As mentioned in the previous chapter's Author's Note, there are some serious character injuries in this chapter. I try to write realistically, but for those readers who would prefer a less-intense experience, I've included a summary at the end of this chapter. Just scroll down to the next horizontal rule/line. Thank you for reading!
"Dirge, Thrust, give Bludgeon the maggots," Shockwave commanded, and we were both unceremoniously handed off. I tried not to cry, but I was trembling and cold. "Thrust," he continued, "the Prime will be with his mate and the femme. Take your trine and find them, but do not fire on them. The maggot Prime will be necessary to activate the Matrix. Locate the femme, transmit her coordinates to us, and pursue her. If you see an opportunity to capture the Prime, take it. He is the only one we need alive. That," he pointed at the motionless Bumblebee, "will be sufficient incentive for him to comply with us."
The three jets took off, jumping up and transforming to blast away into the skies.
Arcee.
Mrs. Witwicky.
Wheelie.
The ground-based mechs seemed to kick back a bit, but one (roughly the size of Trailbreaker) eagerly said, "Let me take 'em, Bludgeon."
The big mech holding us snorted in derision. "You just want to see how many struts you can break before they stasis-lock, Stockade. I want these two functioning. Seeing Ironhide's reaction to them dead won't be half as fun as seeing his reaction to them dying. Disgusting meatbag – it's leaking organic goo all over me!"
He jostled me, and another shriek ripped out of my throat.
"Weak," he snarled.
"Come on! The fluid doesn't bother me," Stockade all but whined. Mom looked green like she was going to be sick and I held her gaze, wishing I had an Autobot comm so I could tell her again that I loved her. Her eyes told me she was wishing the same thing.
Bludgeon turned like he was looking for something. "Go away, Stockade. You're as annoying as a minibot."
Striding purposefully now, he went to the outcropping we'd taken cover behind and stretched me and Mom out on top of it. My ribs shifted some more, and I bit back a scream. He flicked once at Mom's exposed ankle, smashing her Autobot insignia.
She yelped in pain, and Stockade made an enthusiastic sound. To Mom, Bludgeon growled, "Stay put."
Tears streaming down her face and gritting her teeth, she nodded.
The gray mech began pacing, randomly kicking at the pink and purple and yellow parts scattered all over the ground. "How long do we have to sit around here?"
"Two hours," Bludgeon answered. "I've got to keep these maggots functioning for at least two more hours until Ironhide gets here, so don't even think of putting your servos on them."
Shockwave's single red optic grew brighter. "Hardtop, Stockade, run a patrol. Ensure there's nothing…unexpected that could hinder us in battle."
"Race ya," Hardtop said with a vicious grin, and Stockade answered by collapsing into his alt-mode. When the sound of their engines were silent (or at least, I couldn't hear them over my labored breathing), Bludgeon said, "Thanks. They were getting on my nerves. I was gonna have to kill one of 'em."
"I did not do it for your benefit," Shockwave answered, his single optic distant now. "If there are traps or sensors, the offlining of Stockade or Hardtop would be a lesser loss to the Decepticons. It is only your lumbering alt-mode that kept me from sending you. Be silent."
Bludgeon grunted and collapsed down into a tank beside the outcropping. Lying in wait for Ironhide.
The throbbing in my side was a constant, and I couldn't move. All I could do was grip my fingers into fists and try to remember to breathe. Slowly, Mom inched her way closer, scooting herself along the ground until she was close enough to lay beside me. She caressed my face, frowning in concern. Low in my ear, she whispered, "You're clammy. You might be going into shock."
Of course I was. Frag it all.
Hissing in pain, she peeled her own jacket off and draped it over my chest. It wasn't much, but it did help warm me up a little bit. Her fingers gingerly explored my ribs, and I cut off the wail that slipped out.
"Shut up!" Bludgeon snarled.
Shallowly panting against the pain, I glanced sidelong at Mom. She ducked her head and tried to give me a brave smile, but she was too pale to be reassuring. Scooting down a little, she curled up protectively next to my broken rib and put her arm over my waist.
"Ankle broken?" I breathed.
"Afraid so."
My head lolled back against the ground, and I swallowed hard. I was in no condition to escape, and Mom probably couldn't even walk. She kept rubbing my arm and hand, trying to warm me. Fortunately the sun was beating down on us, and it must have been close to 13:00 hours by now. For the first time since we left the house, I wondered what time it was. It made me think of my cell phone concealed in my pocket. If the Decepticons caught me with it, they'd destroy it and maybe us. But it was our best hope for rescue.
My fingers found my zipped jacket pocket, and I slipped the phone out but kept it hidden under the jacket Mom had draped over me. Turning to her, I whispered, "Bat signal."
She nodded and slipped her hand under the jacket to retrieve the phone. Trying to not draw attention to what we were doing, I turned my head to focus on the boulders we'd hidden behind when Bumblebee made his final stand. Even that small movement made me hurt worse.
Beside me, Mom sighed. Her lips against my ear, she whispered, "Radio silence."
Slag. Were we being jammed? Or did she mean radio silence had been ordered for the Autobots?
"Radio silence?" Bludgeon demanded, and I mentally cursed.
He transformed to loom over us. "What's that supposed to mean?" Mom hesitated, and Bludgeon boomed, "Well?"
Swallowing hard, she held my cell phone out to him. "It means my phone wasn't able to get signal."
Her phone - she was lying to protect me, so that she'd be the one punished if her confession made Bludgeon angry.
He plucked it from her grip and crushed it between his fingertips.
"Weak human tech. Too bad. It would have been fun to give Ironhide a preview." Then he transformed back down into his alt.
The minutes ticked by, and I was getting desperate to think about anything besides the pain. I looked at the broken parts scattered around on the ground, and tried to imagine how we could use them to fight or escape. I didn't know enough about Autobot frames to know what I was even looking at, but it gave me something else to focus on.
I went through every scrap of metal in view twice before it sank in that we really weren't going to make it out of this alive. When we were fighting for Bumblebee, it was different. He was being torn apart and we were trapped anyway. But even then I didn't understand like I did now that we were already dead. I choked on a sob when I realized this was it. My life would end today. Each breath was getting harder than the last.
Mom rubbed my arm more quickly, and I caught her hand to squeeze it tight. She was hurt, too, but all this time she was being strong and holding it together for me. She squeezed my hand back in answer, hearing my unspoken "I love you" and letting me know she loved me, too.
She rested her forehead against my cheek, and I could tell from her hitched breathing that she was crying, too.
At one point, Bludgeon startled us by transforming again, but he ignored us, striding over to Bumblebee's mangled frame and kicking him repeatedly.
"Enough," Shockwave said, and Bludgeon grumbled, "He was transmitting something."
"Yes," Shockwave answered, sounding annoyed. "Tortured mechs tend to have misfiring systems."
The roar of Cybertronian engines made me look up with a sudden surge of hope, but it was the two non-flying Decepticons coming back from patrol. The smaller one rolled out of his alt-form. "Nothing to report but grit in our gears. This planet is filthy."
"Noted," Shockwave answered. "Stand down, Hardtop."
The bigger one transformed and walked toward Bludgeon. "The insects are both still functioning."
"Frag off, Stockade, or by the Unmaker, I'll plug you with the enhanced cyber-shot."
"Do not waste it on him," Shockwave ordered.
"I've got four rounds," Bludgeon grumbled, "And these pellets pack an even bigger punch – enough to make sure Ironhide's extinguished this time. It'll only take one round to fry Stockade's circuits to the Pit."
"Ironhide's got to be getting close," Stockade whined. "Can't I have just one of the organics?"
"These are my kill," he growled, transforming up and out of his alt-form.
Stockade skipped back, lighter on his feet. "You just need them alive, you said, not intact. They're half-broken already."
"Deal with this, Shockwave, or I will," Bludgeon said, smacking Stockade's clawed hand away from us.
The purple mech looked their way. "Stockade, stand down."
But Stockade lunged at me. I tried to flinch away, but I wasn't quick enough, and I screamed when his fingertip crushed me. Bludgeon shoved him away. I couldn't even understand their arguing, though. All I knew was the grinding, throbbing pain in my hip.
Several things happened at once – Bludgeon took aim with his cannon, a half-dozen jets buzzed us, and Shockwave bellowed, "Incoming."
Bludgeon paused and made a disgusted sound. "Human-builts. The Seekers will tear 'em to shreds."
The pain started fading. Puzzled, I looked down toward my hip and gulped hard. It was still a gory mess, but I couldn't feel it anymore. This was the end, then.
I tried to turn my head to look at my mom one last time, but I couldn't move and then I was floating in an out-of-body experience. I could see my corpse there on the bloodstained rock where Bludgeon had set me and Mom aside. She wasn't crying anymore, either. Were we both dead? I didn't think she'd been hurt as badly as me, but…
Bludgeon doubled over onto the ground and screamed so high and loud that his vocalizer visibly crackled. Sparks were jumping in the gaps between his armor, making him jerk, and a pellet rolled out onto the ground. The micro-Cons, like the ones that had almost killed Ironhide!
Red, blue, silver, black – like a thunderbolt another 'bot dropped from the sky and the earth shook when his feet hit the ground. Even before he spoke, I recognized him by his energon blades. "Shockwave!" Optimus' voice rang with challenge.
"Attack!" the 'con ordered, still cold and calculating.
Bludgeon was still screaming and convulsing, but Stockade and Hardtop launched themselves at Optimus. Prime caught Stockade's shoulder in his hand and impaled the 'Con on his blade, ignoring the damage from blasts he was taking from Shockwave. Hardtop he kicked aside. Then the 'Con's leader was on him and they both crashed to the ground. They were on the edge of my peripheral vision (and I fleetingly wondered how I could even have peripheral vision when I was dead). I could hear them, though – armor squealing and clanging as fists struck home.
The Seekers arrived and landed, warily circling Optimus and Shockwave, looking for a chance to back up their boss. Prime managed to throw off Shockwave, and the Seekers opened fire. My perspective abruptly shifted away from Optimus and I felt a wave of panicked irritation. No! I couldn't fly off to heaven or wherever yet! I had to know if Optimus would make it out of there alive!
My new perspective let me see something that made my heart lurch in both fear and hope: sun glinting off of windshields on the road uphill. Was this the cavalry coming or more Decepticons?
Chopper blades beat the air behind me as another mech joined the battle, but I focused instead on the approaching vehicles. One figure raced ahead of the others and I would have cheered if I could when I made out the splash of pink. Arcee. She must have updated the color scheme of her final remaining bike. If she was coming here freely then she was leading the charge. As they got closer I could see the green of Hound's alt-form, the black of Trailbreaker, and the off-white of RaFly. Where was Mirage, though?
My perspective shifted again in time to see Optimus blast a Seeker's wing clean off. One of the Prime's antennas was damaged and he seemed to be favoring his left leg, but he gamely traded blows with Shockwave. The remaining Seeker disengaged from the orange-and-white Evac and helped his injured companion take to the sky.
I desperately wished there was something, anything, I could do to help, but my perspective shifted again and I couldn't even watch. This new angle let me see Bumblebee's crumpled frame and I started drifting closer. Was he even alive still? The stump where one of his doorwings had once attached to his frame was trembling, and compassion welled up in me.
Engines roared behind me. Again my perspective shifted in time to see Shockwave blast into the sky as the other Autobots burst onto the scene. It took me only a heartbeat to realize he was retreating. Hardtop kicked up a plume of dust as he tried to make a run for it, too.
Hound and Trailbreaker drove on, with Hound racing ahead to engage Hardtop, but Arcee fell to her knees beside Bumblebee, immediately going to work. Evac joined her and their hurried motions looked desperate.
Almost coldly, she said, "He's not going to make it."
"Ratchet's on his way, Arcee," Evac answered.
A moment later, RaFly pulled into my field of vision and a grim-looking Samuel got out from behind the wheel, followed by Mrs. Witwicky on the passenger side.
Arcee's twitched her head 'no.' "He won't get here in time."
The Autobots had won this round, but they'd lost me and Mom. Would they lose Bumblebee, too?
SUMMARY:
Shockwave gives Annabelle and Sarah to Bludgeon for whatever purpose he wants. Bludgeon lays them out on top of the outcropping and breaks Sarah's ankle to keep her from running away. (Annabelle's still in a lot of pain from her broken ribs.) He says to the other 'cons that he has to keep the women alive for another couple of hours until Ironhide arrives and so no one else gets to hurt them.
Shockwave then sends a trine to hunt for Arcee and her charges, giving the order to kill them all except Samuel. He hints that he wants Sam to do something for him and will leverage the injured Bumblebee to make Sam help with Shockwave's plan. He sends two ground-pounding Decepticons on a patrol but keeps Bludgeon close, claiming that Bludeon's lumbering tank alt-form is too slow to be useful for patrolling.
Annabelle shows some signs of shock and Sarah works to keep her warm. They try to use Annabelle's cell phone to send out a call for help, but they're being jammed.
The ground-pounders eventually come back from patrol reporting nothing unusual. One of them starts begging Bludgeon for permission to further injure Annabelle and Sarah. Bludgeon says "no" and the two get in a shoving match. Bludgeon threatens to shoot the other 'con with some of the pellets that he'd brought to kill Ironhide. Shockwave tells him not to waste the pellets. The ground-pounder reaches around Bludgeon to crush Annabelle's hip.
She's in excruciating pain, but when the pain eases up moments later, she thinks she's dying. This idea is reinforced when she sees the unmoving forms of her own and her mother's bodies. As her perspective shifts, she's anxious to see how the battle ends instead of rushing on to the afterlife.
At the same moment, human-built jets buzz the site of the ambush, the radioactive pellets get activated while still inside Bludgeon's own frame, and Optimus swoops in, wearing his Blackbird armor and with his energon blades at the ready. He's soon backed up by Evac and then the rest of Bumblebee's squad, including Arcee, Sam, and Mikaela. The surviving ground-pounding 'con makes a break for it and is pursued by Hound and Trailbreaker.
Arcee and Evac immediately notice the injured Bumblebee and start to work on him, even though he's beyond their skill to repair and even Ratchet wouldn't be able to fix such extensive damage. Annabelle worries about the fact that she and her mother are already dead and that the Autobots would lose Bumblebee, too.