Chapter 16 "Quiet's past, final part"

"If only we shared a common tongue…"

I am at the ruins pounding at the water in frustration, tears still dropping. I am already soaked. Then I stop, and I stare up at the sky, it has gotten cloudy. It starts to rain, and the ruins are filled with the noise of the water crashing on the ground. It had never rained here before. Then my body, moving on its own, dances. Dancing well into the night while the rain guides me.

Then the dancing stopped at the same time the rain did. I get on top of the arch and take in the view, the sea of stars, how clear the sky had gotten after the rain cleared out. I sit down hugging my knees, resting my head. Lost in my thoughts again, remembering everything. The memory that stood out the most for me was when I was carried by him in his arms.

How warm it felt, embracing him… every time. The adventures in the desert and forest. Our shared moments in silence in the mother base. "Snake…" I whisper if only I could have felt him one more time. I let out a deep sigh and drift off into a long sleep.

…

"Let's finish this"

"Snake?" I ask in confusion, but somehow my voice doesn't reach him. When I look to the side I was on the chopper, we had arrived at Lamaar Khatee Palace. He hands me my Brennan and gives me a tap on my shoulder. Right when we drop off a bullet from a tank hits just a few inches off the chopper.

"Run!"

We charge forward and another bullet passes between us and hits the chopper, exploding it. The force of impact pushes us. As we fall on the sand, Snake picks me up and gives me a nod. I nod back and head into the palace, placing myself on the balcony of the high floor. He takes out his missile launcher and starts shooting at incoming tanks. I shoot at incoming soldiers; it's a whole armada out there.

Suddenly, the daylight desert turns dark. A mist arises from out of nowhere, glowing green eyes in the darkness.

"Skulls!" I yell, but my voice doesn't reach him again. Snake gets rid of the launcher, takes out his handgun from his back pocket, and starts shooting at them. I keep firing at soldiers and some of the tanks. A long time passes; we keep shooting at soldiers and tanks, bullets flying all over us. Then Snake takes out an assault rifle and charges towards the last of the skulls, disappearing into the mist. I yell out his name and this time I can hear my voice.

"SNAKE!"

I hear a yell and get anxious. I drop down from the palace and head into the mist.

"Where are you Snake?"

The shooting has stopped, silence all over till I hear an incoming chopper. I hasten my pace and delve deeper into the darkness of the desert.

"SNAKE!" Sand starts to bug my eyes, raising my arms to cover them I yell his name again…The noise from the chopper gets louder. All I can think is he will get on that chopper and…

"SNAKE!" Tears start to slowly drop down on my cheeks. My lips tremble, a great pain emerges from my chest…

"SNAKE!"

Somehow, I had reached the source of the noise. There I see his back, getting on the chopper.

"Snake! Please…" The waterworks continue, he looks back and he tries to get down, but an arm grabs him in his shoulder. Then I hear a familiar voice…

"She's with Cipher boss!"

"You…" Out of anger, I take out my handgun and aim it at Miller, and then I hear a shot.

BANG!

My hand is covered with blood… I look at Snake and see him holding my handgun… I feel my stomach wet, now my leg… I look at my hand again and it's even redder, then I look at my chest…

"Snake… why…" The chopper lifts off; he continues to look at me alongside Miller. They leave me in this godforsaken abyss. I fall from the wound, how I will get out of this I wonder. Everything goes dark, its pitch black

"Where are you? Snake… come back…Boss…The Boss is with me…"

"Hurry up and kill her!"

"She's a fine scout…"

Random thoughts swirling my head, then I see Skull Face extending his hand.

"Come child… come join xof… we will take the world together.," I extend my hand and just as our fingers are about to touch, I see Snake in my head again

"No!" I get up and Skull Face vanishes.

"Snake!" Tears fall, my chest feels lighter, I feel a sense of release as I yell out his name.

I begin to lose my balance and fall again but something grabs my hand, stopping it. I see a silhouette… A face I can't see clearly because of the sandstorm. Daylight comes again, and then I see a horn, an eyepatch, and the beard.

"Snake?"

"Kept you waiting huh?" Snake drifts his fingers over my hand and places something, closing my hand with his. He smiles at me. When I open my hand it's there. "Snake… this is…" "Yes, star of Bethlehem" He walks away and I wake up.

Dawn arrives, the sun peeks over the mountains and the sky start to light up, I get up and stretch my arms. It's a new day, I receive it with a smile, the warmth of the rising sun gives me a new life. I recall on the dream I just had; I look at my hand where the star of Bethlehem was and grip it gently. Somehow, my chest was feeling lighter. I smile again, and at that moment, I decided to live for myself. I was full of hope, for an uncertain future.

I was free, and I had just truly let go of the man I only ever loved. I look down and see all that the ruins have to offer. Then I decided to make it my new home. I would everyday work with the animals and bring other types of animals here and even plant flora.

As the years went by, I was able to secure an abandoned cabin that was not too far off the ruins and so I began to restore it. I would go to the nearby and faraway villages to steal items and resources using my jump and invincibility. Working on the ruins and restoring the cabin always kept me busy. And sometimes I would go to the villages and wander around and observe people in their day to day lives.

At the end of every day when I worked at the ruins, I would go to the arch and stare at the landscape. For many years, the cold air of the night would hug me, and the morning sun picked me up. There was not a day that went by that I wouldn't think about Snake, how was he, what was he doing, and remembering our time together. Even after a decade my feelings never changed, somehow, I never lost hope I could see him again.

One day outside the cabin, I was cleaning my rifle and I heard something approaching. I turn myself invincible dropping it.

"Dear…" I hear a familiar tired old voice.

"Dear… it's me." I turn visible.

"Code Talker?" he appears in front of me turning visible.

"Code Talker, what are you doing here?"

"I have lost everything…"

"Please come inside, let's talk there."

I help him with his chair to go to the inside of the house. I place him in front of the wooden table, and I sit across it.

"What happened?"

"Skull-Face killed my entire family, now I have nothing…"

"Code Talker…. I didn't know..."

"The revenge cycle doesn't ever end Eve, we have to stop it, you too feel revenge, don't you?"

"Eve?"

"That's your real name my dear, your name is Eve…"

"How could you know?"

"The parasites, they analyse the DNA in your body and transfer that information to me."

I become silent, trying to understand what Code Talker is talking about. He proceeds to tell me his plan for revenge; he wanted to breed a special type of parasite that would carry out his will. However, he would not tell what it would do exactly. I was hesitant at first, but then I made my decision to go along with his plan. Looking back now, seeing Code Talker again reignited my feelings for revenge.

After laying me the plan, we first searched for an underground area to build the laboratory, and then I found the cave. To build the lab, I stole materials from a research center, transporting them on a vehicle I secured years ago which Big Boss used. When he mentioned about me needing to have someone so the breeding process can begin, I told him I would not let myself be taken by any man. He asked whom I would let myself be taken with, I answered "Big Boss". "Gather the blood sample" he orders.

After I returned from gathering the blood sample, feeling anguished from what Snake had become from a decade of war. Code Talker quickly began the matching process, taking a sample of my blood. When the two were mixed he added a speck of the new parasite he was trying to develop, the red blood turned pink. He tells me "Congratulations my dear, it is indeed an extraordinarily strong match. As if you two were a match made in heaven, you will not find a stronger match than this."

I couldn't help but smile a bit at Code Talker's comment. However, to complete the mission, the task seemed near impossible. How could I get the man out of the most secured fortress in the world? If he isn't dead yet or blown to bits. It was such a crazy plan and yet Code Talker and I was able to make it work. He told me to stand by in Outer Heaven, he said he felt that Big Boss's time was soon arriving, for he heard from the parasites that I bought back with me that something was going to go down in that fortress. And it would be our only window of opportunity to extract him.

Luckily on my way to the fortress, I managed to hop in on a chopper that was en route to the fortress. When I arrived, I placed myself on top of the hill and stood by for two weeks. Everyday sending the parasites to scour information. At night I traveled to a nearby Oasis to shower and refill my canteen which I used to pour myself with whenever my skin got too dry from the sun.

When the day arrived one of the buildings started to make a loud ruckus. I turned invisible and carefully scouted the outskirts. A man was wearing a bandana who was taking out soldiers left and right and seemed to be headed to kill Big Boss. I decided to take advantage of the chaos and head towards Snake's room. When I arrived, his door was open, and he was just finishing a conversation via radio where he slammed the radio breaking it, and punched the mirror on the wall. He took a deep breath and loading his assault rifle he walked towards the storage warehouse, which was in the basement, he walked down the stairs with such pride, I walked behind him.

Snake throws his cigar as the shuttle door of the warehouse opens, he readies his rifle and heads down to his final battle. I carefully hid in a corner between two storage units and waited for the aftermath of the battle. After the intense battle where the bandana man disappeared, Snake was laying on the ground, smoking his cigar, he began to utter some words. I came closer to him and crouched, looking at him closely, and then he whispers a word that shook my heart.

"Quiet…" at that moment as his cigar falls from his mouth, my heart started to beat fast and I quickly grabbed him. Then with my jump, I quickly escaped the fortress as it began to blow. When I finally got into a clear area, I took a close look at his body. He had his right leg blown off by the bandana man's shotgun during the battle, and out of the endless shooting with his handgun he was hit once in the lower right abdomen, one in his shoulder, and last one in his right chest. But luckily Snake was still alive but barely, he was unconscious.

I managed to dig out the bullets and clean his wounds to the best of my ability, and I used the hardening parasite Code Talker gave me to stop bleeding and infection of the wound until I arrived at the lab. It was a 4-day journey. When I lay him on the metal table, Code Talker begins the parasite treatment, sprinkling his body with clear water just like he did to me. The treatment healed his wounds, and even rejuvenated him, turning his white hair into brown; he looked just the way when I met him. I feel my chest tightened as I watch him sleep, I strongly grasp my chest and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Snake, welcome back."

He begins to open his eye.