Chapter 14 Behind the Drapery

Quiet begins to follow Code Talker with the jumps. They arrive at the cave. It was a laboratory they built together in secret. There were a few metal tables with parasite samples, some papers scattered around. A small generator which barely supplied the power needed for the mixing station Code Talker constantly used and a small garden area connected with sprinklers.

Lastly, an overhead lamp which illuminated the laboratory just enough during the night, in the middle of the place there is a circled garden and above it a hole where sunlight creeps in during the day. Illuminating quite enough the hidden lab. He begins to take some bottles of measure and make a mix.

Quiet puts her hand down in her crotch area and removes the sample. Looking at the plastic glass tube, she hesitates on what to do. As she stares at the tiny pink parasite.

"This is me and Snake…" she mutters, "What have I done…" she wonders.

All she's doing now is thinking about the man she left back home, who was still asleep. She could be in his arms now, where she now felt free and safe. She feels a bit of regret about where she is now and what she was going to do. Quiet gets the idea to destroy the sample, tightening her grip on the small tube but Code Talker takes it off from her.

"We are now in this together my dear, no coming back."

Somehow those words snapped Quiet back from her daydreaming and thinking about Snake and made her concentrate on her final mission. As Code Talker carefully takes a tentacle of the pink parasite, he inserts it into the mixed bottle which liquid was so clear it seemed as if it were empty at all. As he drops the parasite into the crystal clear liquid, hundreds of dots quickly form in with such speed and force the bottle cracks and explodes upon the pressure. Code Talker lets out a slight smile.

"This is it…"

Quiet puts her hand in her heart, biting her lips and steeling herself for what was next. As Code Talker prepares the final experiment, Quiet looks back at the entrance of the cave "Snake…" she closes her eyes and utters his name again.

"Snake" a very small part of her, wanted the man to appear and stop all this. All she could think of is be in his arms again and apologize for everything. He was all she needed, all she wanted. But it was too late, but not late enough, to hope, maybe, just maybe… one last time.

….

Quiet decides to skip using the vehicle and use her abilities to quickly go to the cave where Code Talker is waiting for her. Her first step off created a strong gust of wind and lifts sand from the dirt road.

Because of the sudden noise, Snake wakes up startled "Quiet?" he looks to the front door and sees particles of sands, some of them enter his eye, reacting by covering it with his left arm.

"That noise, it sounded as if she jumped."

As he gets up, he is hit with an epiphany. He remembers what happened the night before, he killed the parasite soldier, Quiet was gone and he entered a cave looking for her. He quickly grabs the flashlight looks to the kitchen floor where he had shot the soldier dead, he notices there's nobody but a very slight black stain leftover.

He picks up his crutch, the gun, and looks around the house for something to cover his mouth and nose, as to not fall unconscious again from the smell. He finds a small grey scarf and puts it around his neck. Rushing exiting the house, he gets up on the vehicle and heads down to the cave. Once again, he leaves the vehicle on so the light can guide him. He puts on the scarf and makes his way deep into the cave. With his flashlight, he notices sand particles once again.

"Quiet must be through here."

As he makes his way, he hears gasping noises. He takes out his gun in advance, now taking precautions. The cave's straight trail was somehow deep; he had been walking over 5 minutes and still no sign of her. The gasping noises get louder, and the sand particles grow more numerous. He notices that the soldiers must be lifting dirt from their uneven friction because of their movements; he begins to concentrate, closing his eye and starts to shoot, 6 times, 5 soldiers fall.

He hears when the bullets pierce the soldiers and knock them down. Proceeding deeper, more soldiers start to approach.

"hmm, I don't know how many bullets I got left."

He keeps killing them, when he hears the mag fall out, he searches his pockets, and luckily, he finds one. "All right…" Snake puts the mag on the gun and reloads it. He keeps shooting; he must have killed over 10 soldiers.

One stumbles on the left shoulder and he throws it down on the floor CQC style, but he falls too because the crutch fell off from under his shoulder. As he tries to get up the soldier he threw on gets on top of him, Snake reaches for a knife he had in his other pocket and stabs it on the side of the head, throwing him to the side so he can get up.

He sees another soldier approaching him upfront, he looks to the side, and there was little illumination from the flashlight that was on the floor. The gun was behind him, he crawls back reaching for the gun while the soldier accelerates his footsteps, Snake picks the gun and shoots it in the head.

Trying to catch his breath, he closes his eye and tries to assess the situation. He notices there is no longer gasping sounds, but he feels a slight rumble beneath him.

"Hmm, I must hurry." Snake picks up his gun, flashlight and stands up with the support of his crutch and continues onward deeper to the cave. After a few minutes more, he starts to see a light, he picks up the pace, supporting himself between the crutch and the rocky wall. The light gets brighter he even picks up the pace more. When he reaches the source, he sees Quiet and Code Talker on opposite sides of a metal table, she notices him and is surprised at his arrival, calling out his name. Snake mutters her name and falls because of the exhaustion.