She cautiously extended her arm, and I gently took her arm. She stepped forward, and wrapped her arm around mine. She was a bit anxious, so I didn't really mind it. While we walked, I wondered what the condition up on the streets was. I thought they were probably covered with reporters and worried civvies. Police, fire fighters, maybe a few military personnel.
We walked for around five minutes before I heard movement behind us. I pushed the Sister behind me, and aimed carefully.
"Who's there? I'm warning you, I'll blow your damn head off." I warned in a firm voice.
"Gamma, it's us. Put the gun down man." Paul said as he stepped out of the shadows.
"You get a girlfriend while we were gone, eh buddy?" Wreav said sarcastically.
"Yeah, that's it alright. Hell no, I was busy spilling the blood of a hundred Splicers. I found her after I woke up."
"What happened to your helmet?"
"The porthole shattered, it's useless now."
"Hmmm, that sucks. Well come on, civvies are all cleared out. No signs of life down here, we gotta head back topside." Paul said.
"Roger that red leader." Wreav joked.
The condition up on the streets was way worse than I thought. Riots broke out. And I mean lynch mob style riots, not a bunch of high school students protesting. There was a few different Riot Control groups out there. And a few people were actually mauled and killed by the angry civvies.
"HEY! There they are! You people brought them here!" a man yelled.
"Hang them!" the crowd burst out.
The riot control agents had their work cut out for them. They could barely hold the berserk crowds back. Of course, a few people actually got through. A lot, actually. They charged us, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve.
"Paul, Wreav, gasmasks on, now." I said, pulling another canister of tear gas from my chest.
"Alright, toss it." Wreav said in a muffled voice.
I pulled the pin, and rolled the can on the ground. It began to spew the noxious gas, and the charging crowds were brought to their knees. Paul and Wreav ran through the gas, but the Sister beside was hesitant at first.
"Come on, we don't have long before they get back up. We have to go now!" I said.
"But… why? Why are they… so angry?" she asked.
"I don't know, we can find out later. Come on!"
"But… what did we… what did we do?"
"I have no clue. We don't have time for this!" I locked my shotgun onto the strap, and picked up the Sister.
She seemed a bit embarrassed when I did that, but I didn't have time to do anything else. The gas was clearing, and the mob was getting back up. I ran past the gas, and after Paul and Wreav. We ran into the only safe place there was. A transport tank.
"What took you two so long?" Paul asked.
"Never mind that. Anyone in the cockpit of this thing?" I asked.
"Hey! No civvies allowed in here!" a voice blasted from an intercom.
"We have some of the highest ranking military access there is. Ever heard of Foxtrot Charlie?"
"Yeah… how'd you know about that?"
"I'm Sergeant Gamma, and we are commandeering this vehicle. Get us outta here."
"Sir yes sir."
The tank started, and it slowly began to move. We sat in the heavy machine for at least half an hour. It finally stopped, and the door opened. All I could see was at least ten M16s aimed at us. I stood up calmly, and looked. US army, they were heavily armed, quite a few too. At least twenty.
"Hey, watch where you point those things! I've killed worse than you, so back the hell off!" I commanded as I pulled my shotgun off the strap.
I kept it close to my chest, with my finger close to the trigger.
"Ah, please forgive the rude greeting. Can't be that sure when one of our tanks goes missing." A scrawny man in a trench coat and a beret said.
"And you are?" I asked.
"Please forgive my rudeness. I am Colonel Peterson. Pleased to meet you Sergeant." He extended his hand, which was encased in a small leather glove.
I shook his hand, and examined the area.
"So, now that you are here we have a few things to discuss."
"Like what?" Paul asked.
"First, we need a physical examination of that girl. Private, get the doctors in here."
"No. No one lays a hand on her." I said.
"Why is that?"
"I made a promise, and I never break a promise. Now, you can continue that order if you wish, but I'll kill the first man to touch her."
"So be it. But I must ask, would it be possible for us to at least see her?"
"Well, ask her. If she says no, lay off."
All attention turned to her, the unnamed Big Sister hiding behind me. I stepped aside, and she was practically shocked by that.
"Well? Is it alright if we do a small examination?" the Colonel asked.
She didn't respond for a moment. Then she nodded.
"Ok. Men, take her to the examination room. Be gentle with her, or I'll have you serving slop for the next year."
Two men armed with M16s stepped forward. They reached for her arms, and she flinched. One of them motioned for her to follow, and they began to walk towards a large building. She tugged on my arm, telling me all I had to know. She was most likely ignored, or maybe abused as a child. And of course, that meant she was scared of everything and everyone. Except for me, from what I knew. She must've taken me as some kind of source of hope, or protection.
We followed the two men, and they led us deep into the concrete, windowless building. She still clung to my arm, and even shook a little. As we walked past a few different rooms, she seemed to begin to cry. But then again, it was the armory. Some of the weapons in there look pretty intimidating; most weren't even shown to the public for that reason.
After a few minutes of walking, we found ourselves in a white tiled examination room. A doctor made her strip down and put on one of those robe things. The ones that cover your front, but let your ass dangle. I turned around while she changed, and once she did, she sat down on an examination table.
"Ok, what do we… excuse me, this is a private examination." The doctor said as he walked back in.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you doc? No, I'm staying here."
"Fine, please remain quiet while I do the examination."
He had a few things he needed to do. First off, he had to check her height and weight. She was 5'4, and around 100 lbs. For comparison if you really care that much, I'm about 6'2, and maybe 160 or around there. But of course, there were a few things she wanted to skip, and a few things I wouldn't let happen.
The doctor walked in with a large needle, filled with a strange yellowish liquid, and a butterfly needle, and three empty vials. The Big Sister nearly flew off the table, and almost tackled me to the floor.
"Yeah, doc, let's skip the injections and blood tests. Ok?"
"Why? It's for her safety."
"She has all the safety she needs in her blood stream. She's immune to any and all diseases here."
"Alright then… I guess there's only one more part of the test to go. I'll be right back."
The doctor walked out of the room. The Big Sister had calmed down enough, and sat back down on the table. She sat there, shivering. I wasn't sure if she was scared, or just cold. Maybe both. The doctor walked back in, with two latex gloves. He put them both on, and snapped the last one as he did. That was what alarmed me.
"What's with the gloves?" I asked.
"You'll see soon enough." The doctor said as he stepped in front of the Sister.
He kneeled down, and attempted to lift up the bottom of the Sister's robe. I grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him away.
"Whoa, no touching until the second date doc." I said, stepping in front of him.
"Please, I'm a professional. Let me finish the examination."
"She's like what, sixteen or seventeen? What do you need to do that for?"
"It's mandatory. Move out of my way please."
"Hell to the no! I ain't letting you do that, now get outta here."
"Fine… the Colonel will hear about this!" the doctor cried as he exited the room.
"Go on; tell him you tried to molest this girl! Damn doctors… you alright?" I asked the Sister.
She slowly nodded. She hopped off the table, and grabbed the heap of armor on the floor. I turned around, and heard the clang of metal. After a minute, she was changed again.
"Uh… Sergeant Gamma?" a soldier asked.
"Yes?"
"I've been instructed to take you two to your temporary housing. Please follow me." the soldier said, and began to walk away.
We followed him to a nice looking building. We walked up a few flights of stairs, and he stopped at a room with a sign that said "62". It was probably the room number, considering the room ahead of it said "61." He handed me a key, and walked away.
I unlocked the door, and let the Big Sister go ahead of me. I closed the door, and stuffed the key in my pocket. I finally realized I hadn't ever figured out the Sister's name.
"So, can you tell me what your name is?" I asked.
She stared at me in confusion, and unlocked her helmet. She set it on a table, and stepped towards me. She still didn't answer me.
"Do you know what your name is? Can you tell me?"
She cocked her head in confusion, and stepped even closer.
"I'll take that as a no. So; I guess we should give you one…"
She stepped even closer to me, and seemed to trip. I had no time to react, and she just wrapped both her arms around my neck. I helped her up, and stared at her. She had dark brown hair, and oddly deep green eyes.
"How does… Emma sound?"
She didn't say anything; she just brought her head down on my shoulder.
"I'll take that as a yes. Alright, time to go to sleep." I said as she tightened her grip around my neck.
She released me, and stepped back. She tilted her head, again telling me she was still a bit confused. I picked her up, and walked into the bedroom. I set her down on the bed, and stepped back. Instead of lying down and trying to sleep as I had hoped, she stood up.
"No, you have to go to sleep." I said, pointing at the bed.
"No… I'm not… not tired." She said as she stepped forward.
"Alright, I'm not gonna fight you over this."
I walked out of the room, and she followed. I sat down on the couch in the middle of the room, and she still mimicked me.
We sat for maybe five minutes in silence. I finally picked up the remote to the medium sized TV, and turned it on. I needed to see what was on the news. What it was all about surprised me.