Hello to everybody, how are ya'll? Good? Okay so now let's just jump right into it. You don't know what happened then go back and read because I ain't playing around with all this dumb bullshit.

Chapter 6: The skirmish at Red Snow

Mathews

Book of Everafter

Story: Snow White and the seven dwarves

"Alright, Sabrina," Conners said, dragging the last Scarlet Hand prisoner forward "This one is for you."

Sabrina cast a quick glance to Puck and Mathews, unsure of what to do. Puck nodded and indicated pulling the trigger of his weapon, and Sabrina nodded in response. She leveled her rifle and took a brief moment of hesitation, and he couldn't blame her. Sometimes it was hard to remember that these things were no more than machines in a man's body. Her hesitation lasted only a few seconds before the crack of a gunshot was heard, and the Scarlet Hand unit fell to the ground.

"That was refreshing." Liam laughed as Conners motioned for them to keep walking

"Dusty!" Conners called "Get up here, you're on point."

"Yes sir!" Dusty called, running past Mathews

Dusty was the squad medic, but squad medics never stayed with only one squad. During a battle, they tended to move around and help whoever they could. Mathews listened to the steady drone of gunshots and artillery off in the distance, squinting to see the small flashes of thirty millimeter rounds touching down.

"You know," Rogue said from behind them "The country side is beautiful, even if it is being blown to shit. It's almost like R&R."

"If this is Charming's idea of R&R," Puck laughed "Why don't you just fucking shoot me, please."

"I agree with Rogue," Miller shrugged "It is pretty, and it's a nice change from Ferryport Landing. No offense, Sabrina."

"None taken," Sabrina laughed "I'm not a huge fan of it anymore either."

"I never was," Puck muttered "I just got trapped there."

A buzz of laughter made it's way through the men, circling around and eventually dying down after a few seconds. Mathews glanced around, checking for enemies. They were walking back and forth over the front lines, there had to be somebody near them.

"Dusty!" Sabrina yelled from behind him

Mathews looked around just in time to see a humongous, humanoid-like creature swing downward, taking a chunk off of the road, and trapping Dusty. It had literally come from nowhere, and it was made out of a gelatin substance.

"It's one of those fucking memory things!" Conners yelled "Take him down!"

Mathews pulled off a grenade and popped the pin, launching it into the creature. Puck shot a grenade from his launched behind him, and Conners was yelling for everybody to scatter. Sabrina was letting off grenades faster than the creature would regenerate, but she would soon run out.

"We need reinforcements!" Liam was yelling as they scattered for cover "Bring the biggest fucking rounds you've got. I don't kno-oh man oh man, if you seen this shit!"

Black fired another grenade, knocking a chunk from the foot. Harris and Sabrina was attempting to make their way over to Dusty to grab him, but the creature had spotted them. Mathews fired a shot from his sniper, scoring a hit on the eye. The creature backed up and roared, echoing all around them.

"He brought backup!" Puck yelled "And it looks like they've gotten the Scarlet Hand's attention!"

Mathews glanced to where he was pointing, and nearly fainting from shock. Dog-like creatures, made of the same substance as the bigger one, were pouring from the fields across from them, followed closely by Scarlet Hand troops.

Sabrina

Sabrina jumped down into the crater that Dusty had fallen in, Harris right behind her. Thankfully, the creature hadn't touched Dusty head on, so he wasn't dead, but he arm was caught under a huge chunk of rocks. Harris gave cover fire while Sabrina tried her best to help Dusty out.

"Sabrina!" Dusty yelled "Get the fuck out of here! That's an order, Private! Both of you move, now!"

"I'm afraid I can't leave you, Sir!" Sabrina yelled back

"Hurry!" Harris yelled

Sabrina tugged and pebbles began to fall from the chunks of rock. Dusty's arm was caught tight, but Sabrina could get him out, it would take time, they needed more cover fire. Suddenly, an enormous bang sounded throughout the valley, and a ball of fire struck the memory above them in the arm.

"Scarlet Hand!" Harris yelled "Shit!"

"Fuck!" Dusty yelled, slamming his fist on the dirt "Sabrina I am ordering you and Harris to fall back, right now!"

"No!" Sabrina yelled "I'm not leaving you here to die!"

She moved to the side and began working Dusty's arm out from the other side, twisting and pulling it very carefully. It was beginning to slip out, and Sabrina would have to move quick if she didn't want the rocks to fall and crush her hands.

"There's a lot of them!" Harris yelled, continuing to fire

Sabrina gave a final, small pull, freeing Dusty's arm from the rubble. She moved her hands out just as the rock, with Dusty out from under it, fell. It smashed the ground and Dusty grabbed his rifle, ducking down. His arm was messed up, but he could fight, for the moment.

Sabrina looked over the hole and out at the chaos. Her squad was pinned down behind a stone wall in front of a small cottage, taking fire from the Scarlet Hand and battling the memories. They had to move if they wanted to live, but they were just as pinned down. Four Scarlet Hand tanks had rolled into the valley, followed by at least thirty Scarlet Hand troops. Harris poked his head out and a bullet bounced off the side of his helmet, ricocheting and shooting off to the side.

"Jesus!" Dusty laughed "You lucky bastard!"

Sabrina fired at a soldier and scored a hit, dropping him to the ground. They scattered to take cover, returning fire at them. Sabrina was beginning to panic when she realized that Guardian tanks were rolling through the fields behind them, firing on the Scarlet Hand tanks and the creature. There were seven tanks in total, followed by nearly a hundred infantry.

"Now!" Dusty yelled "Move! While they're giving us cover fire!"

They ran from the crater and towards their squad, dodging and ducking fire from all directions. Sabrina blasted a grenade into a memory as it pounced for them, blowing it to bits. The three of them moved towards their men in a leapfrog style formation, covering the retreat one by one. Sabrina ducked down for her turn and began to fire as Dusty ran past her, suddenly falling and yelling out.

"Fuck!" He screamed

Sabrina looked down and saw four holes in Dusty's torso, fifty caliber rounds. Blood oozed from the holes, spilling onto the dirt below him. Dusty struggled to breath, trying to force himself up. Puck was trying to move to them, but he was pinned down with the rest of the squad.

"Harris!" Sabrina yelled "Help me!"

She grabbed one arm and Harris grabbed the other, and together they dragged Dusty towards the wall. Scarlet Hand and Guardian tanks alike were pouring rounds into the creatures, taking them down by the dozens, while the infantry fired on one another.

"Dusty's hurt!" Harris yelled to Conners "We need a medic!"

"He is the medic, dumb fuck!" Jax screamed as they dragged him around the corner

Sabrina looked up at the giant creature and watched as severely explosions struck his body, blowing it into chunks. Guardians were pooling behind them and they would be able to move with them, but they couldn't leave Dusty alone.

"Puck, Sabrina, Jax, Miller, Black, and Liam!" Conners barked "You guys come with me, we're going after them. Rogue and Mathews, you guys give us some cover fire. Harris, you stay here with Dusty, don't let him bleed out, patch him us as much as you can!"

With no further words, Conners stood, racing after the Guardian soldiers in front of them. Sabrina followed him and soon they were running right to the front lines. Bullets bounced in the dirt all around her, but she kept on moving, forcing her fears away. The creatures had been almost fully wiped out and they were beginning to flee. The Scarlet Hand, however, had gotten reinforcements and were now pushing back at the Guardians.

Puck

Puck ducked down as a bullet whizzed past his head, smacking into the dirt. Tanks and soldiers were now steadily rolling into the valley from both sides, opening fire before they had even come into view. Explosions rocked the once beautiful countryside, tearing holes into the fields and leveling houses. The farmers and their families had already cleared out, which Puck was thankful for because they'd probably be dead otherwise.

"We're too exposed!" Sabrina yelled to him "We need to find cover!"

"Behind the tanks!" Jax yelled, pointing to one rolling up "Use them for cover!"

They fell in behind the tank and returned fire at the Scarlet Hand, pouring round after round into their ranks, but they kept on coming. It appeared that the Scarlet Hand was having the same issue, at least three more Guardians showed up for every one that was killed.

"Some air support would be beautiful right now!" Liam yelled to them "Of course that old hag can't figure out how to get our planes and helicopters through the portal!"

"Ahh come on!" Puck laughed, leaning around the tank and firing "Baba Yaga isn't all that bad once you get to know her!"

"Puck, considering what I know about you from Shakespeare!" Black yelled "You and I have extremely different versions of 'not all that bad'!"

Conners laughed and continued sending rounds from his LMG into the Scarlet Hand ranks, taking them down in twos and threes. The tank to their left disappeared in a fiery ball, killing several grounds troops as well. Jax poked his head around the tank and almost got it blown off.

"Shit!" He yelled "By Puck's logic, this battle ain't all that bad. I mean hell, at least the fucker's ain't got laser guns or some shit!"

"The last time you opened your mouth like that!" Black yelled "We still had rifles and shotguns while the Scarlet Hand had machine guns, that was how we lost Antarctica!"

Puck rolled his eyes and fired a few rounds towards some Scarlet Hand troops, taking one down but only wounding the other two. Another Guardians nearer to them finished them off, and Puck fell back behind the tank.

"Hey!" Puck yelled, waving to Conners "I'm going up top!"

Conners nodded and gave Puck a boost to the top of the tank. Once he was on top, he turned around and offered his hand to Liam, pulling him up with him. Together, they ducked down behind the tank's main cannon, and Puck mounted the fifty on top while Liam traded his shotgun for Puck's rifle, and began picking off Scarlet Hand troops. Liam had the accuracy to be a sniper, he just rather lacked the patience, and his accuracy was better when he was moving in fast motions.

"Look at em fallin' back boys!" Liam laughed "Get some you bastards!"

Puck poured rounds from the fifty into the Scarlet Hand ranks, mowing them down in fours and fives. Armor piercing rounds tearing through the thin sheet of metal protecting the tank gunners, blowing them apart in chunks. Even though they compared the Scarlet Hand to machines, they were fully made of flesh and blood, but it didn't really bother Puck.

"Haha!" Miller laughed "Tear em a new asshole, Puck!"

Puck stopped to reload and then went right back to work, taking down soldiers in small groups, they had began to retreat. The Guardians were giving chase to a retreating Scarlet Hand force, but they wouldn't have the numbers to hold if they ran into reinforcements along the way. The officers new that too, and they were yelling for everybody to hold up and let them go. Eventually, the men stopped running and they simply watched the Scarlet Hand retreat back into the fields they had come from. Behind them, the last of the memories were being taken out.

"Hell yeah!" Liam yelled "Retreat you pussies, it's what you're best at!"

Cheers rose from the Guardian ranks, and they echoed throughout the darkening sky. It had been sunny when the battle started, and now the sun was almost setting. Bodies were lying everywhere, both Guardian and Scarlet Hand had taken casualties in great numbers. Liam jumped down off the tank and rejoined the squad, while Puck took one last look around at everything before he jumped off. When he landed, Liam was putting up his radio, his laughter replaced with anger.

"Medic from First platoon just radioed in!" Liam yelled over the cheers "We need to get back up there, Dusty looks pretty fucked up!"

Boom! And now that I have written and entire chapter from the sky, I have just done some serious binge writing. Literally wrote this whole thing in one sitting, then edited it, a lot. Don't judge, I just do my thing. So, please read and review, God bless!