Quiet grunted in frustration as she kept her rifle trained on entrance of the cave, dead set on taking Big Boss down with a sleeping dart to the neck and then a .45 bullet to the head.
I swear to God you're not getting out of this mine alive, asshole. She thought, bitterly. Killing children… you crossed the line son of a bitch.
She drew a long breath and held it, moving muscles she didn't need anymore and straining the burnt tissue of her lungs and bronchi. It hurt a little, but she was so furious she barely registered it, as she waited for the right moment.
Come on, get out of there you bastard…
At some point, during the seemingly eternal wait, she found herself contemplating how quickly one single decision could make her change opinion on someone. She had never thought Snake could be one to kill children, but apparently, that was a line he was apparently ready to cross, while she had always set her foot down on killing innocent bystanders. No innocent women, no children. Not even child soldiers.
The fact she had been cut off all radio comms, even the always open two-way line she had with Snake alone, made her even more furious. What were he and that other idiot Miller plotting? Was he taking pictures with the iDroid for the client?
Oh for fuck's sake get out of there!
Her wish was granted. She noticed some movement at the entrance of the cave, a couple of minutes after the burst of bullets. Between the rain and the awful light, she could barely see, but someone was definitely moving around the threshold. Expecting Snake to appear sooner or later, she tensed, finger curved around the slippery trigger ready to shoot.
Then the lithe body of a child appeared in her scope. He was a short, scrawny creature dressed in rags scavenged here and there, his face a mask of fear and uncertainty as he walked out of the cave, followed by a second child, apparently of the same age, then a third and a fourth, until Snake finally walked out, carrying a kid over his shoulders.
Sighing in relief, she let go of the gun with a jerk and turned on her back and lay there, staring at the cloudy sky. She couldn't believe she had been so quick to judge something she couldn't see and was easily misunderstanded. Often, Snake and Miller spoke in their own terms, referring to things only they knew from their past experiences together, stuff she was unaware of. It was like they spoke in a different language, like when her grandmother taught her Navajo so they could speak together without being heard around by other people.
What a mistake she had made.
She was wiping the rain from her eyes, pushing her soaked hair back away from her forehead, when the radio channel was opened again. "Quiet, you alright?"
She mumbled something affirmative, as she turned again and gathered the rifle in her hands.
"Great," he replied. "We need to get going, fast. These kids won't make it far on their own, and like hell I'm going to kill children. I already informed Pequod of the added weight, he's on his way to the landing zone. We need to make our way there fast and unseen, you understand?"
Another affirmative mumble and a quick sniffle. For some reason she was crying, not sure if they were tears of relief for his words or the fact that she hadn't misjudged him so badly.
"There's a canyon, north east of here. It takes us straight out of the area and to the LZ, but it's probably heavily guarded. Care to take a look around?"
She was ready to do more than that. She cloaked and quickly surveyed the area. Snake was right, there were quite a big number of guards. She considered her options. It was dark, rain was pouring and the wind moved the fronds of the trees masking the noises of each step everyone took. She could find an appropriate nest and snipe them all down, putting them down for the nap of their lives. If only they didn't have that huge spotlight lighting the area.
Or, she could put out every each of them from close up, but that would draw even more suspects.
No, there were kids to be kept safe, Snake couldn't possibly keep them all safe and calm while traversing an hostile zone not knowing how to communicate with them.
Then, an idea. If she took the spotlight out of the equation, odds would significantly get better for them. If they couldn't see and couldn't turn back on their only source of light in the whole area, they couldn't possibly notice Snake and the children as they snuck away to safety.
The only way to obtain such result was to put a bullet or two inside the generator that fed electricity to the huge light. Her sidearm would do, if only she had a sound suppressor. She couldn't use the one attached to her rifle, it wouldn't fit the bore of the gun, the caliber was way too different. Maybe Snake's?
Quiet did something she had never done. She sped towards Snake and crept behind him. Before he could react to her presence behind him, she pulled his gun from his thigh holster and started unscrewing the sound suppressor. In the dim light, she could see the horror and the fear in his eye as he finally faced her. Was he thinking she was going to shoot him?
Probably yes.
Instead, she took the suppressor and handed him the gun back, then screwed the black cylinder on her own weapon. They were at the mouth of the canyon in that moment, she could see in the distance the generator, her target. Right in front of him, just to ensure him that she wasn't going to kill him, she took aim and shoot three bullets in rapid succession to the bulky unit.
Despite the effectiveness of the suppressor, the noise couldn't be completely masked like in the movies, and the kids whelped in fear. She had kept away from the target, in order to avoid being seen but most of all heard. Even with the device, the noise of a gun was very well recognizable by trained soldiers.
The moment the spotlight went off, she unscrewed the silencer and handed it back to him, then she cloaked once again and from a higher position, took the guards down, one by one.
"Quiet, this is the greatest idea you ever had," said Snake as he ushered the kids towards safety.
She smiled, briefly, as she dropped another guard down. Ten soldiers in total, eight went down in a minute, two more required some careful timing as the poor light and the rain made it hard to take a good shot at them. In the end, when she just couldn't wait anymore for a clean shot to the neck, where the sleeping dart was more effective, she simply shoot three darts each, all to the torso, and waited for them to go down.
It didn't take long, and as they fell squarely on their back in the tall, wet grass, she heard the whooping noise of the incoming helicopter. She was closer to the LZ than she imagined.
When the two soldiers hit the ground, the iDroid strapped to her utility belt happily chirped that the area was now clear. Snake, who had surely received the same message, hurried the children down the canyon.
One quick last check and the moment she was sure no one would come to check the broken generator and no one had noticed the children had escaped, she climbed down from her perch and joined Snake to help him with their new little friends.
As she did so though, she didn't expect to be completely overcome by a sudden surge of anger. How the fuck could he even think of cutting her out after he had fired, seemingly on a bunch of unharmed children?
With a jerk, she hoisted her rifle on her shoulder and jabbed him in the bicep as they walked.
With a wince, he startled, making the wounded children he carried cry in pain. "Ouch Quiet!" he exclaimed. "Why the hell did you do that?"
She wrapped her hand around the muzzle of the assault rifle that hanged from his hip and jerked it around to indicate the shooting at the kids, or at least what she had thought had happened, then she pointed at her in-ear monitor and made the international gesture for I haven't heard shit after you shot, asshole. Well, the asshole part wasn't part of the gesture, but she really hoped her face would convey the insult.
"Wait you thought I had shot them?" She nodded, vehemently. "Jesus Christ Quiet! For what kind of monster have you taken me? Goddamit no! I would never even think of harming children, let alone shoot them in cold blood!"
Grunting, she jabbed him again in the arm, but not hard enough to hurt the child he was carrying. His leg was roughly bandaged with scraps of cloth, and he looked like he was in terrible pain.
Well next time don't cut me out of radio comm!
"Fuck it, you really thought I could kill them?" She shrugged and he shook his head. "I'm gonna kill Kaz."
Wait, what?
"He was the one that cut you out after I shot. We had a client that wanted the audio proof that I had killed them, so I gave him that. I have no fucking idea why Kaz cut you out, after I shot them, we talked about a plan to get them to safety. And you thought I had killed them… I'm lucky I don't have a .45 in my brain now!"
Fuck yes you're lucky! She thought. I already had a plan to take you down and be done with you.
"Well, I'm glad you didn't kill me."
They had reached the landing zone and Pequod was already hovering above it, shooting rain drops in every direction at very high speed. He lowered the helicopter and Snake opened the side door and pulled himself up inside the cargo hold, then laid the wounded kid on the bench he usually occupied. "Help them up!"
She did as told, hoisting the children in the tank. They climbed up by themselves, with some help from Snake, and silently took a seat from those available. When they were done, Snake sat in his customary place when they took off or approached the landing zone, ready to defend the helicopter with the gatling guns, and she jumped on the railings just as Pequod set off. They both watched as the barely lit mine became smaller and smaller, until they couldn't see it anymore, hidden in the mountains and the thick vegetation of Central Africa. When the altitude became too much and the wind and rain rendered their perched positions too unstable, they pulled themselves inside the hold and he closed the door with a loud thud.
They were all soaked to the bone and the metallic floor was slippery, so much that as Quiet moved to take her customary seat, she slid on the shiny surface.
But instead of ruinously fall on her ass with a gasp of pain, the only ache she experienced was the one caused by Snake's bionic fingers tightly wrapped around her arm, one last attempt to keep her upright. Their eyes met just as the hold was lit by a lightning that cracked the sky outside.
Quiet felt a lump forming in her throat as his one eye bore into hers, like a surgical scalpel cut through the skin. She felt as if he was reading in her soul, decoding her deepest dreams and fears she kept so well hidden she didn't know them anymore. If she could have breathed actual oxygen, she was sure she'd have actual difficulties taking in air in that moment.
"It was a long night, Quiet, sit down and rest. I'll take care of the children."
She observed him as he quickly checked them all, on by one. He controlled everyone of them, if they were hurt or anything like that. He took good care of giving them something to eat, producing spare rations from a hidden compartment beneath the floor, and warm, clean clothes to ward off the chill of the rain. After everyone got something to chew on and a bowl of those things that heated instantly through a chemical reaction, bland tea from the smell, Snake sat on the floor of the helicopter, his back against Pequod's seat, tightly wrapped in a warm woolen blanket.
She really wished she could have a blanket for herself too. The helo wasn't heated and she was soaked with cold rainwater. Her boots were soggy and scraped the skin of her feet, the bikini and fishnet tights she was forced to wear to provide a modicum of modesty did nothing to dispel the cold sensation that pervaded her.
She shivered, visibly.
Snake must have caught that movement. "You cold?" She nodded. He stretched his right arm towards her, gripping a tail of the blanket with his fingers. "Come here."
Idiot, I can't get covered!
"Only your back and shoulders. Some body heat will do you good, just until you feel a little better. Come on, I don't bite."
She considered it. He was right, some body heat wouldn't hurt her. And if she kept her legs and most of her arms out in open air, she might as well don't feel the difference. She might get drowsy, that was quite sure, but she wouldn't die of asphyxiation.
But was it suitable? After all, she was his prisoner, what would his subjects think, if they found out he had cuddled with a prisoner? Sure, it was only a one off thing, something that would never happen again in normal circumstances, and yet? What about his reputation?
As if reading her mind, Pequod turned towards her. "I won't tell people if you don't."
In the end, the need for warmth won over her attempts to preserve his reputation among his men. And sure he was warm. He made sure the blanket covered only her shoulders and parts of her back, her legs, arms and majority of her torso was free to let her breathe comfortably. Her intake of oxygen was a little reduced still, and coupled with the efforts and the very strong emotions of the night, she did indeed feel drowsy. She tried to fight it for a long time, but lulled by the steady, rhythmic noise of the engine and the rotors above them, everyone had fallen asleep, Snake included.
It was a futile battle she fought strenuously, but weariness won. She fell asleep too, and slept fitfully until Pequod called them loud through the intercom to warn them they were nearly home.
The moment Quiet and Snake realized she had been sleeping with her head on his shoulder, they laughed.
