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Chapter Thirteen: Dreams Aren't What They Used to Be
"Ok, Cooper. Move it on up. Let's see what's in there."
"Moving, sir. First platoon, hold steady."
I walked up to the door of the shop in a crouch, keeping my MA5B assault rifle to bear. The weapon was huge but didn't weigh nearly as much as it looked, and unlike the battle rifle, it had no scope; the MA5B was purely for up close and personal bullet hosing.
I leaned against the door once I reached it, and held my breath as I strained to listen. Inside the shop, with my helmet's volume amplified, I could hear alien voices murmuring to each other. I stepped back and motioned for Corporal Dandh, behind me, to move up.
"I'm going to kick open the door on three. Toss a grenade and cover me," I ordered, whispering.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Cooper, get that shop cleared yet?" Captain Kingston asked through another channel.
"No, sir. Working on it, Captain."
I took a deep breath and began counting aloud for Dandh. "Three, two, one…"
Bam!
I kicked open the door of the small store with my dark gray, freshly polished combat boots. I stepped just outside the frame on the street side as the corporal threw a frag into the main floor. My head rattled inside my helmet as the grenade exploded, and then I stormed into the still-smoky room. Using my motion tracker, and in a crouched position to make a smaller target, I took out four screaming Grunts in the first thirty seconds. I wasn't breathing, I wasn't blinking, I wasn't thinking; it was all mechanical and automatic. Point and shoot, point and shoot, dodge that bolt!, point and shoot.
Three more alien bodies---two Jackals and an Elite---were down by the time the smoke and debris cleared the air. The store appeared to have no more enemies inside, although the blown up bits of furniture that covered the area could have easily hid a clever Covie bastard. I took out my silenced pistol and began walking through the wreckage, half-expecting to get pumped full of plasma by a hidden alien. I checked my motion tracker as my heart rate gradually increased, but the tracker saw nothing out of place.
So why did I have this feeling of an ambush tingling at the back of my cervical spine?
"Dandh," I breathed, barely even a whisper. I could feel eyes on me, and it was utterly unnerving.
What was going on? Was I losing my nerve? Had five years of long, weary, and painful combat finally gotten to me?
Or was there really a threat in this place that only I could detect?
"Got your six, ma'am. No enemies anywhere near you," Corporal Dandh's voice said over my helmet.
"I…"
Close your eyes, suck in some air, and do your job, my brain said suddenly, harshly. I obeyed, but even so, I noticed that my pistol hand was shaking.
"What the hell is going on here?" I demanded to no one in particular.
"Lieutenant? Aren't you going to contact Kingston? The building's secure," my subordinate said.
There was an odd sound behind me, like a predator licking its chops when it spotted an injured prey. An easy meal.
It took all my will power not to shriek, but before I could turn around I was in somebody's---or something's---chokehold. I struggled with whatever it was, feeling its hot breath on the back of my neck as I tried helplessly to disentangle myself from its arms, the two weapons in my hands, and the broken furniture at my feet.
"Filthy human scum," the camouflaged Elite spat in my ear.
I heard a sharp crack as my neck twisted unnaturally and my world went black.