Chapter 5- The Nightmare
"Something doesn't feel right about this," Private First Class Clair Adams said, lying face down in the dirt next to me. "Why are we running an infiltration op in Wisconsin? Its Liberion territory and the nearest Neuroi hive is in Cleveland. We're too close to a human stronghold, the Neuroi would have no shot getting close enough to attack here."
"Shut up, Clair," Corporal Bridgette Sinclaire growled from my other side. "If you had read your mission preps then you would know that this is a terrorist Neuroi sympathizer camp. These 'people' are aiding the Neuroi."
"Both of you. Be quiet," I growled as I continued to watch the patrols through my binoculars. I committed their routines to memory, then placed my binoculars in their holster on my hip.
I turned around and the other two turned with me as I pulled up an aerial snapshot of the area. "Bridgette. There's one stationary guard and two two-man patrol groups along the Eastern fence. You go through there," I ordered as I pointed at a blind spot on the map she could use to infiltrate the facility, a spot I had scouted out beforehand.
"Yes, ma'am," Bridgette replied. Even though she outranks me, I was put in charge of this mission as the ranking team member with the most experience in stealth missions. Bridgette hasn't had any experience in the field during stealth missions as she had rose to her rank as an intelligence officer.
"Your extraction will be to the North. Clair, you circle around to the North with Bridgette's striker and wait there. No matter what, you need to keep the EZ clear," I ordered, pointing to a good firing zone.
"Yes, ma'am," she responded. Then looked at me, "Where will you be?"
"I will be in the air providing both aerial and sniper cover for Bridgette for as long as I'm capable," I said evenly. I rolled up the map and put it away. "As soon as Bridgette is clear, we get our asses out of here and back to the F.O.B."
"Yes, ma'am," they both said in unison, then got up, grabbed their gear and took off for their designations; Bridgette on foot and Clair through the air, her striker as silent as mine.
I got into my striker unit, known as the Ghost Unit, and flew into a sniping position. My goggles cast a green shine over the environment, a blue halo encircling around Bridgette and Clair as they both held a transmitter marking them as friendly. Red halos circled around anybody else that enters my field of vision.
"Ghost Bravo, are you in position," I asked through our secure channel.
"Yes, ma'am," she replied.
"Ghost Charlie?"
"Affirmative."
"Mission is a go. On Bravo."
"Roger," they both responded simultaneously. Then Bridgette began to move.
She waited down at the fence for one patrol to pass. When they were gone I brought up my sniper and brought up the stationary guard in my scope. Inhale, hold, exhale and squeeze. The firing of my rifle was nothing more than a harsh puff of air thanks to the suppressor on my rifle.
"Target down," Bridgette's voice came through the radio.
I sucked in a harsh breath of air. Killing isn't something I actually like to do, in fact I hate it more than I hate the Neuroi. But unfortunately, I'm cursed with actually being good at killing, something I'm cursed with having to do to protect the world. "Move in."
I watched as Bridgette moved through a hole in the fence she had cut and approached where the man had been standing. I could see as she grabbed one of his legs and drag him deeper into the shadows, then toss some dirt over the blood splatter on the ground.
"You're clear, move in." I said.
She moved to a door and placed her ear up to it, listening. Once she was sure she was clear she opened it and slipped inside. Once she was inside she was essentially on her own. My rounds could penetrate the walls but with the lack of windows I had no clue what I'd be aiming at and could possible hit Bridgette by accident. There were only a few windows I could shoot through, so the onus was on Bridgette to not be caught during the mission.
Nights from the North caught my attention the same time Clair's voice came through my earpiece. "I got two personnel carriers moving through the EP, advise."
"Stay near the EP, but move up and see if you can see what they're carrying. Be advised, the EP is your primary objective," I ordered. My goggles weren't picking up any enemy movement inside the trucks and that bothered me. Whoever it was that they were carrying they were going to be storing them in the gymnasium to the North of the compound as that was where the trucks had pulled up to.
"Copy. Out," she said and then I watched as her halo moved locations. She should now have a great view of the carriers without capture.
I brought my attention back to Bridgette, who I could see was hiding around a corner through a window, two guards standing just down the hall.
"Ghost Bravo, after this point you will be without sniper cover. Are you ready," I asked as I brought up my scope.
"Affirmative," she said and I squeezed the trigger.
The bullet went through the window without shattering it and entered the guards skull just above his right eye. I pulled back the slide and racked a second round and readjusted my scope. The second guard had frozen at the sudden death of his partner and didn't stand a chance as my second shot was a near exact replication of the first. "Clear," I said, barely able to keep the strain out of my voice.
Bridgette stood and gave the 'okay' sign through the still intact window, then moved up the hall. She had her pistol drawn low, ready to go if she encountered trouble.
There was a strange high pitched ringing in my earpiece that stopped when I tapped it. We were in a forested area so signal issues were expected.
"Ghost Leader, do you copy?" Clair's voice came through, perfectly clear.
"Negative, Ghost Charlie. Repeat," I said as she disappeared from view.
"I got a visual on the cargo. They were transporting children, all girls. I think we may have stumbled upon a witch kidnapping ring," Bridgette said.
I gained altitude and flew over to the Northern side of the building. I pulled up my scope to get a better view. There were indeed a bunch of girls down there, ranging in age and color, all being led by the guards to the gymnasium.
But none of these guards were behaving like kidnappers. For one, all the armed guards were staying back by the perimeter looking outwards, as if they were protecting rather than enforcing. And all the guards escorting the girls to the gym were women, who appeared more motherly towards the girls who were flocking to them, not trying to get away. This seemed off. I don't like this.
"Ghost Charlie, fall back to the EP, stay out of sight," I ordered.
"Ghost Leader, come in," Bridgette cut me off.
"Go."
Bridgette's voice came through my earpiece garbled so I had to focus to understand what she was saying. "Ghost Leader, do you have a sister?"
"Not safe for the radio, Bravo."
"The package is secured, but I have obtained some additional information that may make this mission FUBAR. Please answer the question, Ghost Leader," her transmission was still a mess but I was able to still make it out. This wasn't normal signal disruption.
I could hear a new voice coming through our transmission, someone who was giving orders. And the high pitched ringing was coming in and out, almost like a screech. The taste of copper reached my lips and something was dripping down my face. I reached up and wiped at it and my fingers came away red.
A single drop fell off my fingers down below and a few seconds later a set of lights went off around one of the women guard's heads. That set off a chain reaction as a portion of the girls down below had the same lights go off around their heads as well.
"T-minus thirty seconds to fire mission," The strange voice said through my earpiece.
"What?! Bravo! Charlie!" I yelled but my goggles lit up a warning. Someone had gotten a lock on me. "Abort! Abort! Abort the mission, RIGHT NOW! Get clear of the location!"
I could see that Clair wasn't moving. I switched to my AK-47 and flew down towards her location. But before I even got close I could see a dark puddle forming around her. Blood.
"CLAIR! NO! DAMMIT!" I screamed, unable to hold it in. I looked up to see the guards looking and aiming at my, one with a smoking barrel, all of them with horrified expressions on their faces. They were all girls too.
But my eyes slipped past all of them. To a girl standing by herself, her hazel hair pulled up in a bob, wearing a green dress. A green dress I last saw two years ago when I shipped out.
"A-Amanda?" I stammered to myself, confused. Then clarity came through as I flew straight towards her. The guards were frozen in shock as I flew straight at them, screaming like a banshee, "AMANDA!"
"T-minus five, four, three-" the voice said through my earpiece. I could hear the engines of a jet approaching, but I didn't think. I just tried to focus on the girl through the blood, sweat and tears streaming down my face and cheeks.
But I never reached her. The soundwaves of the jet passed and a missile crashed through the building. The blast waves blasted outwards, throwing her into the air towards me as my flight path was disrupted.
A figure flew out of the fire and wrapped their arms around my body, flying away. I struggled against them as I reached out and grabbed Amanda, yanking her up against my body as I was carried away myself.
Some of the guards who weren't killed in the blast were struggling to their feet. I could see they were crying and screaming in agony as well, and some even pointed their weapons up at us in the sky and started to fire. I heard a single grunt come from the person carrying me, but they didn't slow down, they just kept flying. Then I felt an impact in my back, followed by a weak and cold sensation, my vision going dark around the edges. But I refused to give in. I refused to let go.
There was a bright blue light that started to circle around me. It made me feel warm. Everything that hurt stopped hurting. It was as if it was telling me to relax and allow myself to let go. That everything would be taken care of if I just let go.
But I couldn't.
I… could… n't…
"Samantha! Please! Wake up!" the voice was familiar, but I couldn't figure out from where. And I felt a softness on my back, and a warmth all around me. This wasn't right.
"Please! Wake up!" that cry again. A picture started to form in my mind upon hearing it again. Sandy blonde hair. Hazel eyes. White, pointed cat ears.
I blinked my eyes open, trying to adjust to the bright lights and figure out where the hell I was. It was an unfamiliar room with an exposed wooden support beam running across the ceiling.
The blue light waned. "Sammi! You're awake! I'm so relieved!" Yoshika said, strain and relief warring for control of her expression.
"Sammi! Thank goodness you're alright!" Eila cried out as she dove on top of me on the bed, hugging me as if she was afraid that if she let go I might disappear. I heard a couple groans and looked to see Lynne and Sanya rousing themselves awake, having been slumped against each other asleep on a bench near the window.
"Ugh… what the hell happened?" I grunted as I tried to move my arms so I could place a hand on Eila's head to comfort her. When I felt the cool air on my shoulders and looked down to see bare skin, I realized I was probably nude right now, and flushed with mild embarrassment. The nudity wasn't my issue.
"You crashed during the false alarm," Sanya explained. Something about that didn't sit right, especially when I felt Eila tense up, but I couldn't remember exactly what had happened.
"False alarm?" I asked cautiously.
Sanya stood and approached the bed. She placed her hands on Eila's back and started to gently massage her. But she was looking directly at me. "A couple nights ago the radars picked up a strange signal and set off the alarms. You and Eila were the first ones up to back me up as I went to investigate, but something went wrong with your strike and you crashed into the see and have been out cold since," she explained. But something about how were eyes were staring directly into mine was telling me that what she said wasn't exactly true, that something else happened. Something that she wasn't comfortable disclosing while the others were in the room. Eila's reactions and the fact that Sanya mentioned her told me she was aware, but Yoshika and Lynne were standing together quietly at the end of the bed, as if waiting to be asked if there was anything they could do to help.
Sanya turned around and addressed them. "Can you two please go report to Commander Mina that she's woken up. Neither of these two are in any condition to move," she said with full sincerity.
"Right! We'll be back as fast as we can," Yoshika said as she took Lynne's hand and they ran from the room.
Once they were out of the room, Sanya turned back to me. She place one hand on Eila's back, and the other she placed into her pocket.
She pulled out a flat piece of metal, about as big as a book, and handed it to me. I flipped it over to see and engraving of the Liberion flag. And underneath that:
Property of the United States
Of Liberion Marine Corps
"I found this floating nearby as Eila pulled you out of the water. By the time the others arrived, the wreckage had already sank, nobody say anything," Sanya explained, as she went back to giving Eila a back rub. I had no choice but to comfort her as well, as she hadn't let go of me yet.
But she looked up, her eyes red with tears and fatigue. "I… I read your fortune with my tarot cards while you were out," she stammered. Sanya nodded her head when Eila looked to her. Eila let go of me with one arm and reached into her pocket to produce a card and handed it to me.
I flipped it over.
The Grim Reaper.
Death.
