Chapter 10: I'm Here, Baby

Bullet rounds rattled the air around me. I could hear the clink and clank of empty shells falling to the paved and worn roads as we drove through the Dallas streets. Above the echo of gunshots, I could hear the roar of the crowds. They marched with a force unmatched by the thunders of Hell.

We drove the convoy down the final street. I could see the camp ground just before me. My heart emptied into my stomach. This was it. Time to claim my prize and gain back what was taken from me.

A zip line of air shot just my ear. The wind it carried tickled me and beckoned me with its whispers of death. I spun within my mounted position atop the vehicle to see a FEMA truck in pursuit. Fuck. Can't I get rid of these guys? Just once?

I fired in rapid retaliation and eliminated the gunmen. His body became a ragdoll, leaving the roof of the vehicle to topple end for end on the unforgiving asphalt. I opened fire on the pursuing truck. Bullets ricocheted in every direction, failing to leave a mark on the motorized rhino.

I needed to hurry. We were approaching the camp at full speed and we could not proceed with the truck on our tail. I felt around underneath the seat which I was mounted. Quickly I felt something round and metal. There it is. I pulled out a frag-grenade from inside. It felt cold as its metallic gleam flickered in my eyes.

Removing the safety pin, I left the projectile in the hands of fate. Its electronic warnings beeped as I held it in my hand. This had to be timed perfect. Through my vast experience with explosives, I counted off three seconds. Suddenly, I released the explosive from my hand into the air.

The grenade met the ground and bounced upon impact just beneath the FEMA vehicle. I chuckled as the car ignited into a mass of flames. The drivers and everything around it had been swallowed by the explosion, and the car itself had been released from its earthly confines. It entered the air before toppling back down end for end in the road.

Meanwhile, our truck had begun its drifting stop just inside the camp. I left my perch and into the convoy. The men were not leaving. They seemed to be preparing for something more. I looked up to Pike, whom also sat with an expression of distant reserve. He then looked at me.

"Well, this is your stop, 34115….we wish we could stay and assist you," the General began, "but there the FEMA HQ is just a few blocks from here."

I suddenly realized what he planned on doing and for some reason, I truly and sincerely cared. These people, despite my hostile, inhuman behavior had treated me like their own. They made me feel like part of a team again. They made me feel like a Marine.

"That's suicide! With just this number of men, you might not even make it to the fucking gate." I warned.

His face suddenly became hard and sturdy as he spoke these words I will never forget, "Sometimes a man must sacrifice everything for a cause greater than himself even if he has nothing but his life to give. I would like for you to stay and help us…but I understand. I hope you find what you're looking for."

With that, I exited the convoy with a salute to all these brave men. I would love to stay, but my destiny starts and ends with Jesse. I began to sneak and crouch through the camp as the convoy sped off into the abyss of death.

My heart pounded, not for the danger ahead, but for her safety. I found cover behind a crate where I loaded my weapon. The camp siren wailed once more. I fought off the memories that it ensued. All I could think of was her.

Footsteps began to pound towards me. Time to end this story. I left my shelter, rifle aimed for heads. My gun began to spit out unforgiving bullets into the guards. I began to strafe across the ground as I continued to fire. The counter fire began.

I took a slide behind a train car which had been parked here. It hadn't moved since it had unloaded the prisoners located here. I used the cover to my advantage and picked off the three remaining guards in front of me. I ran forward and slid into the pile of bodies I had created. I grabbed two pistols from their holsters within one smooth motion.

I looked up and saw more opponents running forward. I aimed my double-wielded weapons and mowed them down before they could even get a shot off. My body had become a machine while my mind was just an empty capsule with only one thing filling it.

I found myself at the first group of pens. Inside, men and women stood there staring at me with astounded eyes. Their clothes were rags and faces were beaten and dirty pulps of flesh. They were me and I was them. I busted open the cages and gave two men the pistols I had collected. Showing them my prison tags, they knew my intentions were not for them.

"Get them out of here," I ordered, "free anyone else you see."

With that, we parted. The guards, now confused on their directives split into two groups. Some chased after those escaping, while the rest stayed to deal with the intruder. Bad idea. I shot the two guards whom had found my location and snuck behind the other, who was still searching for me.

With a satisfying crunch, I broke the connection between his spinal cord and his head with a quick twist of the neck. I moved forward into the women's detention center. Inside the brick-walled enclosure, there was a single building that held the women. She had to be in there.
I busted in the door like a mad dog out of his mind with rabies. I eliminated the unimpressive female officers. Man, do none of these guards have a reaction time? Just as sudden as I thought that, my arm went numb with pain. SON OF A BITCH! I turned in the direction of the pain to see a guard just behind where I had entered.

I spun into the women and grabbed her weapon with one motion. I ripped the weapon down and placed my other hand's fist into her face. Blood spattered from her face as she fell. I then sealed the deal with a stomp of my boot into the side of her skull.

Crunch!

I reentered the building with my arm in severe pain. That was the first asshole to actually shoot me. I had forgotten what being shot feels like.

I showed the ladies held in the cells my tags. They, like the others, also understood. I opened their filthy prisons and handed them the weapons of their fallen guards. However, the cell 34116 was empty. Where was she?

"Where is 34116?" I asked the ladies whom were gathering the supplies they would need to leave the camp.

They looked at me and then at each other. Something was wrong. God, please don't tell me…

"You're here for her aren't you?" one spoke up, "Jesse kept telling us about you. You must be Thomas!"

"I used to be," I replied, "So you know her? Where is she?"

She looked at me with a worried expression and she answered, "She went into labor yesterday. They took her into the medical room down the hall. I'm sorry….no one comes back from there."

NO! My wife…my child. I had to go see for myself. I blasted down the hall. Everything else was a white blur except for the sign that read: MEDICAL ROOM.

I busted into the room with a rage and fear of a blinded boar. The room was a grayish-white. The gloom and despair filled my eyes. Medical tools lay in neat rows along the tables while the blood they carried, pooled along the floor tiles.

I opened the only curtain in the room and there she was. Her once gold hair was nothing more than patches of dark blonde atop her beaten scalp. Her body was thin and sickly, unmoving and cold. The baby lie in her arms. It was a disgusting purple and completely dead. Tears filled my eyes as I threw off my mask.

I fell to the floor next to her. My entire soul vanished. GOD, WHY? WHY MY BABY? WHY MY BEUTIFUL JESSABELLE? Everything I had fought threw was for her. Jennings. The gas. EVERYTHING! I had always kept a hope in my heart that we would be together. She was all I lived for.

Now it was gone. My world spun and my arms shook. I could not hold back the tears as they rained from my burned face. Suddenly, despite all the pain I now felt; something else entered my head. I began to think of how I had once wanted to die to escape this new existence.

I realized that my wife and child were now safe. Safe from the torment that this world had begun to endure. Free from the pain and sorrow of the children screaming for parents lost. They were unchained from the relentless beating we were given by merciless demons. I know what I must do now.

I stood upon my feet and looked over my family. I knew I had done all I could and now they were safely delivered into the arms of peace. Jesse's face, despite the hell she endured was still the most beautiful face I would ever see. I kissed her cheek and then the baby's.

"Sometimes a man must sacrifice everything for a cause greater than himself even if he has nothing but his life to give."

I put my mask back and helmet back on and readied my rifle. I now know why God had allowed me to live for so long. He would not allow for someone to take my life. I was to sacrifice it myself for a world deemed too fucked up to ever be saved. Time to go blow me up a FEMA HQ.