Hey everyone. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Anyway, enjoy! Don't forget to review, or send me a PM with feedback!!!!
The Only Good Prawn is a Dead Prawn
Chapter 3
"Ideas are bulletproof"
The dry dirt crunched softly under Brian's footsteps. He took a sharp turn, keeping his shotgun at the ready. He saw what he was looking for, a small group of poleepkwa huddled behind a shack. Brian waved at the aliens, and a blue poleepkwa returned it.
"Alright. Thats them." Brian looked back at the small group of humans he was with. He continued forward, leading the way. He jogged at a slow pace, until he reached the shack.
"What do we got, Nick?" Brian said, carefully peering around the corner of the shack.
"There is one MNU truck and one casper."
"What about personnel?"
"Looks like... three MNU guards, and one MNU agent."
"Very nice. Thats fewer than expected." Brian observed the MNU patrol. Two of the guards were leaning up against the casper. The others were spray painting a large red X over a shack.
"Lets get to it then." Lucas said, checking his intimidating alien weapon.
Brian turned to face the group of humans and poleepkwa.
"Ok. We do this just like we practiced. Nick, take your guys and get around to their flank. Everyone else, stay with me." Nicholas nodded. He turned and bounded away, the rest of the poleepkwa following him. Brian addressed the remaining members of the group. "Ok. Ready to do this?"
"Born ready." Theresa said, staring back at Brian.
"Remember, you are dressed as MNU. Try to act like it. Alright then. 3.....2.......1.....Action." Brian let himself go limp, and fall into the arms of Teresa and Jacob. The dragged him out from around the shack, into the view of the MNU patrol.
"We need some help over here!" Theresa yelled at the patrol, waiving her arms. Two of the MNU guards ran to their aid. Brian squirmed on the ground, pretending to be in pain.
"What the hell happened?" One of the guards asked, out of breath.
"Those fuckers........" Brian mumbled, feigning injury. "Fucking prawn man. Came out of no where. He hit me right in the chest. I think my ribs are broken..............."
"He got hit pretty hard. The prawn tossed him right through the wall of a shack." Theresa added.
"Don't worry. We'll get you out of here." The MNU guard turned to the MNU agent, who was watching from a distance. "Hey! Bring the first aid kit! We got a man down here!" The MNU agent nodded, and rand to the back of the pickup truck.
"Those fuckers move fast man....Didn't even see him coming." Bran clutched his chest as he spoke. The MNU agent drove over to Brian in the pickup truck. He jumped out, a large first aid kit in hand. He knelt down over Brian, opening the kit.
"Where are you hurt?" He said, with genuine concern in his voice.
Brian pointed to his chest. "Right about here...." The MNU agent leaned in closer, trying to find the nonexistent wounds. Brian reached up and grabbed the agent's tie with his left hand. At the same time, he drove the fist of his right hand as hard as he could into the agent's face. He pushed the agent over onto his back, and rolled away. He drew his revolver, and stood up. Teresa had already knocked out one of the MNU guards with the butt of a rifle. The other was approaching from behind Teresa, raising his firearm. Brian drew his revolver, and aimed it at the guard.
"Teresa, get down!" Brian screamed. Teresa dove onto the ground, and Brian fired. The guard recoiled, and crumpled to the dirt in a bloody mess. The agent had struggled back to his feet, he stumbled back to the truck. He groped inside for a radio. He was torn from the truck and tossed onto the ground by Lucas, who had just arrived with the rest of the poleepkwa. Brian holstered his revolver, and removed a pair of handcuffs from a pouch on his vest. The agent looked up at Brian nervously.
Brian led the handcuffed agent into a shack. A few other members of the group followed them in.
"Sit here." Brian pointed to a chair. The agent stared back, looking at all of the faces around him. He slowly lowered himself into the chair. Brian grabbed a chair, and sat down across from the agent. Brian could see the sweat dripping off of the mans face.
"My name is Brian Peterson. I would try to shake your hand, but....." Brian looked at the handcuffs that bound the agent. "So... What is your name?"
"Johnathan." The agent scowled.
Brian smiled. "I think we have met before... It was a couple of years ago. For some reason, I can't put my finger on it."
"You were arrested, and I interrogated you."
"Thats it. How ironic." Brian chuckled. Johnathan forced a smile. "Ok, John, I am going to lay down a few ground rules before we get started. I am going to ask you a few questions. You can answer my questions honestly, and I might even be able to answer a few of yours. Or, you can choose to not answer my questions, and my friend here can rip your arms off. Kind of like good human/bad prawn." Brian nodded to Lucas, who was standing to the side. "Your choice."
"I-I'll talk to you." The agent stammered.
"I thought so. Not so tough without your stun baton, are you? Brian smiled. "Anyway, we need something from you. The MNU 'refugee processing facility'. I like to call it a torture prison. We have a few friends that are being kept there. And we need a way in to get them."
"And? Why do you need me to do this.?"
"You are the one who is going to let us in. You know that we will not get in by ourselves without raising an alarm."
" I am not helping some terrorists get into an MNU building." Johnathan shot back, his face getting red. Lucas quickly stepped forward. He grabbed Johnathan by both of his shoulders and lifted him out of his chair.
"Ok ok!!!! ok!!!!" The agent screamed, his legs flailing. Lucas let him drop back into his chair. Johnathan paused for a moment. "Can I ask you a question first?"
"By all means." Brian leaned back in his chair.
"Which one of the terrorist groups are you?"
Brian was amused by the question. "We are not any of the well known ones, if that is what you are asking. We haven't had the chance to make much news. Believe me, If we were one of the more notorious groups, you would be dead by now."
"Do you have a name for your cause?"
"No. I find that giving our cause or group a name neglects the identity of who we are. We don't wan't to be just a catchy news story." Johnathan looked confused. "But if you must give us a name, I guess you could think of us as the human/non-human version of the A-Team."
"The A-Team?" Johnathan looked puzzled.
"You know.... I'm Hannibal Smith, this is Face" Brian motioned to Nicholas. "This is H.M. Murdock." Brian motioned to Jacob. "...And this is B.A. Baracus." Brian motioned to Lucas. Johnathan was even more confused.
"I am not sure what you are trying to tell me." Johnathan said, shaking his head.
"I guess you don't watch much TV, huh?" Brian smiled. "Are you ready to answer our questions?" Johnathan exhaled slowly, and stared at Brian. "Well, I am going to go check on your friends outside. I will come back in five minutes. Make your decision before I get back." Johnathan nodded. Brian stood up. Brian exited the shack, Jacob, Lucas and Nicholas following him. They started walking over to the two MNU vehicles.
"Hey how come I don't get to be B.A.?" Jacob asked.
"Have you removed a door from its hinges with one hand?"
"Well no but-"
"Then you can't be B.A." Brian stated simply. They reached the casper. The two remaining MNU guards were in handcuffs, sitting up against the wheel of the vehicle. They stayed silent as Brian walked past. Teresa had gathered a small pile of items she had confiscated from the guards in the passenger seat of the pickup truck.
"What do we have?" Brian asked.
"Just the usual, sidearms, flashlights, pocket knives... handcuffs, a stun baton, radios,...some cigarettes...."
"Some whats?"
"You are hopeless." Teresa smiled, and tossed Brian the pack.
Brian stepped around the truck, into view of the two captured MNU guards.
"Hey you! Yeah you. Mind if I bum these off of you?" The MNU guard silently shook his head without looking up from the ground. "Thanks man." Brian leaned up against the side of the casper. He opened the cigarette pack, and placed a cigarette in his mouth. He searched his pockets for a lighter. He became frustrated when he could not find one. "Shit.... Hey Teresa, did you happen to find a-" A lighter bounced off Brian's forehead before he had a chance to finish his sentence. "Thanks...." Brian picked up the lighter, and lit the cigarette. He walked over to a small group of poleepkwa, who were talking amongst each other. Lucas was leaning up against a shack, chewing on a can of cat food.
"Shit man.... What is it with you guys and that cat food?" Brian said, his cigarette bobbing up and down as he spoke. Lucas finally got the can open, and slurped down its contents in only a few seconds.
"I don't know...... Its really good though. I can't get enough of it." Lucas responded happily, the cat food obviously improving his mood.
"Do you even know what they put in it? I mean, it can't be good for you......" Brian took a drag of of his smoke.
"Its the only thing I can enjoy in this dump. If it causes problems, I'll just stop eating it." Lucas clicked back.
"Right........" Brian said with a grin. "Hey Nick. Start moving your team into position. We are going to be moving out soon. Grab a radio from Teresa before you leave." Nicholas nodded. He motioned to the other poleepkwa, who gathered their weapons. Brian held out his hand for Nicholas. Nicholas shook it.
"Good luck." Nicholas clicked to Brian.
"You too." Brian responded.
"Christ you two, get a room!" Jacob shouted from the casper.
"See you all back here." Nicholas said as he and the other poleepkwa left.
"Lucas." Brian called out. The alien stopped and turned to Brian. "You are staying with us."
"Why?"
"You are going to play the prisoner." Lucas looked confused.
Brian started back to the shack that held the MNU agent. He swung the door open. The agent stared at Brian.
"So.... You going to help us?" Brian said, leaning up against the door frame. He tossed his cigarette butt aside.
"Yes. But only if you can promise me something."
"What is that?"
"I want you to guarantee that my self and my men outside are not harmed in any way."
"Well, I can give you my guarantee. But its not worth much." Johnathan hesitated. He stared at the ground. He looked back up at Brian.
"Ok. What do you want from me?"
Brian exited the shack studying a scrap of paper. On it were two numbers. He handed the paper off to Teresa.
"He says these are the codes. Are you able to check them?" Brian asked. Teresa removed a laptop from the front seat of the truck. She placed it on the hood, and flipped it open. She typed in the numbers Brian had written on the piece of paper. Lucas led the other two restrained MNU guards into the shack with the agent. He shut the door behind them, and barricaded it with a piece of sheet metal.
"They look ok......" Teresa studied the screen of her computer. "Of course, there is no way to be 100% sure unless we try using them at MNU."
"What are the codes for?" Lucas asked, walking back up to the truck.
"We need two codes to complete our mission. The first one will let us into the MNU facility. The second will grant us access to the security systems once we are in."
"What happens if the codes don't work?" Lucas sounded worried.
"That's why we have a plan B." Brian smiled. "I say we go for it."
"I'm in." Teresa added. Jacob nodded in agreement. The three humans looked at Lucas.
"Lets do it." Lucas clicked.
"I'm driving." Teresa said, walking around to the front of the casper.
"Shotgun." Jacob said, jogging over to the passenger side of the vehicle.
"Alright then...." Brian pulled his Aviator sunglasses out of his vest and put them on. He climbed into the casper. Lucas sat across from him. Brian pulled the door shut, and fastened the latch. The casper lurched forward, the tires kicking up dust. Teresa turned and directed the vehicle down the road, straight towards the MNU processing facility.
The drive was not that long, but it felt like an eternity. Brian stared down at the MNU patch that adorned the front of his ballistic vest. He grabbed the Velcro patch, and tore it of of his vest. He then flipped it and refastened it to the vest. The now upside-down patch was not easily missed. Brian knew people would see it, but he doubted they would think anything of it.
"What are you doing to your uniform?" Lucas asked, puzzled by Brian's actions.
"Nothing......Here. Put these on." Brian handed Lucas a pair of plastic handcuffs MNU used on poleepkwa.
"Are you serious? I'm not putting those things on."
"I already cut the straps in the back. All you have to do is rip them apart to get out of them." Brian turned the cuffs over, relieving that the straps in the back had been partially cut. Lucas reluctantly took the cuffs from Brian. He slipped his hands into them one at a time, and Brian tightened the straps. "Just don't do anything without my signal."
"Ok guys....... We are here." Jacob said from the passenger seat.
They were at the checkpoint at the outside wall of the compound. Brian peered out of the small rectangular window. The MNU processing facility looked menacing. There was a large 10 meter high fence that ran along the outside. Beyond the fence, there was a 4 meter high concrete barrier. Both were topped with spirals of razor wire.
MNU had constructed the compound after the relocation program had started. After the Van De Merwe incident, government and public support for MNU had faded. That led to cuts in funding and grants. This, combined with the rapidly expanding prawn population, caused many problems. MNU had to slow the relocation to a crawl. So they built the processing facility to hold poleepkwa before they were transferred to District 10. There were also suspicions that MNU was using the facility to resume their genetic research program.
Brian watched as a MNU guard approached driver's door. Teresa stepped out, and shut the door behind her. She began talking with the guard. Brian could not hear the conversation going on outside the casper. After only a couple moments, Teresa hopped back into the driver's seat. The guard had walked back into the checkpoint. The gate in front of the compound slowly slid open. The casper's engine hummed as Teresa drove the vehicle through the gate.
"Did the code work?" Jacob asked, sounding nervous.
"What do you think?" Brian shot back. "We're in, aren't we?"
"Where do I park?" Teresa interrupted.
"Its going to be on the right side, past that building. You will see other caspers parked there." Brian pointed through the windshield. Teresa slowly pulled around the building, and stopped next to a row of empty armored vehicles. Brian undid his seatbelt. He picked up his shotgun, and unlatched the back hatch. He stepped down, and Lucas followed him.
"Just play along. I'll let you know when to take those off." Brian said, referring to the restraints on Lucas' arms.
"This isn't going to work......." Lucas said, annoyed.
"Yes it will-" Brian was cut short by an approaching MNU agent.
"Where are you taking this........ Prawn." The guard said with a scowl.
Brian smiled. "Hi. We picked him up in a shack that he wasn't supposed to be in. Apparently he's too fucking stupid to know that evictions are permanent."
The agent looked Brian over. "Why didn't you call ahead and tell us you were bringing a prisoner ?"
"Radio wasn't workn'. We tried to-"
"Bring him to the detention center to be processed." The agent cut Brian off. Teresa and Jacob were out of the casper, and were already walking away towards one of the grey buildings.
"Yes sir." Brian turned and started to one of the buildings. "Get moving, prawn!" He shouted at Lucas. The two walked away from the agent, to the nearest building.
"Were are you going?" The MNU agent called out. Brian froze in place.
"The detention center, sir."
"You are walking in the wrong direction. The detention center is in that building." The agent pointed to a building in the opposite direction Brian had been walking to. The agent slowly walked toward Brian.
"Are you new here?"
"Yes sir." "Brian chuckled. "Haven't really had a chance to acquaint myself with the facility just yet."
"How long have you been here?" The agent said, his tone becoming more serious.
"A couple of weeks."
"Then how come I have not met you? I am in charge of training new employees at this facility. Who is your supervisor?"
"Ohh...... forget his name...... What is it..... I think it was... Lucas." Without missing a beat, Lucas broke the straps of the handcuffs that bound him. He grabbed the agent by the back of his jacket. He threw the agent through the air. He collided with a concrete wall, and hit the ground with a heavy thud. A loud klaxon began to sound. Brian looked up at the guard tower. He could see the guard in the tower raising a rifle. Shots rang out as bullets impacted the ground around Lucas. Brian ran to the corner of the building, shielding himself from the guard's bullets.
"Grab some goddamned cover!" Brian screamed at Lucas. Lucas ran to a parked casper, and hunkered down behind it. Brian cued his radio.
"Nick, is your team ready?" There was a moment of static before Brian received a response.
"Ready."
"Plan B. Do it." Brian looked back up at the guard tower. Brian was blinded by a bright flash. In only a second, the whole top portion of the tower was gone. A large black cloud of smoke rolled up from the wreckage. A second louder explosion shook the ground. A large portion of the cement wall exploded inward. Blue lighting flickered through the cloud of dust. Baseball sized chunks of concrete rained dow from the sky. Brian moved up to the casper, next to Lucas. Nicholas led a group of polepkwa through the gaping hole in the barrier. Nicholas approached Lucas and Brian. Nicholas tossed the extra alien rifle he was carrying to Lucas.
"You guys go and clear out that building. I'm going to go meet up with Jacob and Teresa. The vehicle depot is over there. You should be able to find transport." Brian turned and ran to the door of the building. He aimed his shotgun at the door hinges, and fired. Brian kicked the door, and it fell into the dimly lit hallway. Brian grabbed his radio.
"Jacob. Where are you guys?"
"We made it to the security center on the third floor. We have it locked down up here. The code worked out great."
"Roger that. We are going to need to work fast, our cover is blown.
"Yeah, we heard."
"Alright, I'm on my way up to you." Brian started moving down the hallway, his weapon at the ready. The hallway was long, and it stretched the entire length of the building. There were few doors, all blank and windowless. Brian reached the end of the hallway, and took a sharp left turn. He pushed through a set of double doors. The hallway had widened, and there were more doors scattered along its length. The lights were much brighter, bathing the passageway in an artificial white glow. Brian took a closer look at one of the doors. It was much heaver than the others. There was no visible hinges or handle. There was a small opening covered by a sliding metal cover. Brian pulled the cover back. He peered in through the thick Plexiglas, and found himself staring into a small cell. It was very dark in the cell, he could only see using the light that was spilling in from the dark hallway. There was a prawn sitting on the floor in the corner of the cell. Brian could see its breathing was slow. Brian searched for a way to get the door open, but it was futile. Nothing but smooth metal. He reached for his radio.
"Jacob. Do you have access into the security door control yet?"
"Yes we do. Got the whole building under control." Jacob responded, sounding proud of himself.
"Ok good. I am on the first floor. There is prison cells down here. There is no way I can get them open. See if you cam open them from where you are."
"Hold on a sec........" There was a short pause over the radio. "Is there door numbers? I am not seeing them in the computer."
Brian looked the door over. He could not see any writing of any kind. He flipped up the metal covering the small window, looking on the back of it. There was a number stamped into the small steel plate.
"Found it. 1-9-8-2-7." Brian looked back through the small window. The prawn was now standing right near the opposite side of the door. It looked directly at Brian through the small piece of glass. Brian took a step back from the door, surprised by the now awake prawn. The two stared into each others eyes for a moment.
"Jacob, you might want to hold off on opening-"
"Got it!" Jacob shouted back over the radio. The door gave a quiet electrical buzz before sliding open. The alien stood I the doorway, slowly looking around. It looked menacing at 7 feet tall, and with an almost jet black shell color. The prawn shot through the doorway without warning, directly at Brian. It struck Brian right in the chest, lifting him off of his feet. Brian could feel ceramic plate in his ballistic vest, designed to stop rifle bullets, crack under the impact. Brian flew backwards, hitting the double doors behind him. The glass in one of the doors shattered, raining shards down on Brian as he hit the floor. He struggled to his feet, fighting to breath.
"I'm on your side, you asshole!!" He managed to croak out, as the creature came at him again.
"How many times do I have to tell you, MNU? I do not speak your language." The prawn said. Brian attempted to turn and run down the hallway, but the prawn had grabbed the back of his vest. The alien threw him onto his back.
"Hold on a second!!" Brian screamed. The prawn responded by trying to kick Brian in the head. He was able to roll out of the way, broken glass crunching underneath him.
"Stop making those disgusting noises!" The prawn picked him up by the front of his vest, and pinned him against the wall. Brian could feel the prawns hand tighten around his neck. He reached down and grabbed his revolver from its holster. The prawn saw it, and looked into Brian's face.
"We both die....." The prawn clicked. It tightened it grip on Brian's neck even tighter. Brian tossed the weapon down the hallway. It clattered loudly as it hit the cement floor. The prawn relaxed it grip slightly, puzzled by Brian's actions. Brian slowly grabbed his radio. The prawn watched his every move carefully.
"Nick? Nick are you there?" Brian spoke into the radio.
"Yes." Nick responded quickly.
"Ok listen, I need you to repeat everything I say, no time to explain. Got it?"
"Got it"
"I'm on your side." Brian spoke into the radio. Nicholas repeated the sentence back over the radio. Brian held the radio so the prawn could hear. "You need to let go of me so we can get out of here." Again, Nicholas repeated. The prawn's grip lessened even further. "You have to let go of me. Trust me." The prawn suddenly let go of Brian. He slid down the wall, landing on his feet. Brian spoke into the radio again. "Thanks for the assist Nick. Could you explain who we are to my friend here?" Brian handed the radio to the black prawn. Nicholas began explaining what was happening, and who the members of the group were. Brian walked a short distance down the hallway as this was going on. He picked up his shotgun and revolver. Brian walked back over the prawn, checking his weapons. He waited until the prawn had fished listening to the radio. The prawn stared at the wall, breathing slowly.
"You all done with that?" Brian pointed to the radio. The prawn slowly handed it over.
"Hey Jacob. How is it going up there?"
"Not good. We were not able to take out their communications. First battalion is on its way."
"Shit! Alright, everybody get down to the vehicle depot now. I'll meet you guys there."
"Roger that." Brian clipped the radio back to his belt.
"Follow me." He said to the prawn. "Come on. Follow me." Brian motioned for the alien to follow. The prawn slowly followed Brian down the hallway.
It had fallen quiet outside. The intense firefight had lasted for only a few moments. Most of the MNU employees had evacuated. Brian knew this silence was going to be short lived, 1st Battalion would be on scene in only a matter of minutes. He could already hear the sounds of helicopters off in the distance. Brian stopped when he saw Nicholas standing in the doorway of one of the detention buildings.
"What the hell are you doing man? We need to get tho the vehicle depot!"
"We were going to try to have the vehicles meet us here." Nicholas clicked back.
"No time, first battalion is going to be here any second. How many do we need to evacuate?"
"23."
"Alright. Lucas, you are with me. Nick, take care of my friend here." Brian pointed to the black prawn. "Jacob and Teresa are already getting the vehicles. Lucas and I are going to shuttle the refugees over to them in groups of five."
Brian and Lucas began to bring the rest of the rescued prawns over to the vehicle depot. The first two runs went without a hitch. Brian could see a large helicopter setting down right outside the edge of the compound.
"We are going to have to speed this up, shit is about to hit the fan." Brian shouted over the helicopter noise. "We are going to have to take the rest of the group all at once."
"That is very risky." Nicholas responded.
"We don't have an choice."
"There is a problem." Lucas walked out of the small crowd of polepkwa. Holding onto his arm was a younger polepkwa, only about five and a half feet tall. Its left leg was broken, the lower joint facing at a very odd angle.
"Damn it........." Brian rubbed his face. "You guys take the the rest of them over to the depot. I'll bring the little guy over."
"You will not make it."
"Yeah, there is always a chance of that. But there is a greater chance of you making it if you aren't slowed down. Now get going!" Nicholas silently nodded.
"We'll see you over there." Lucas added. The two then gathered the polepkwa, and quickly began to run in the direction of the vehicle depot. As soon as they were out of view, the sound of gunfire erupted from the compound. The sounds of alien and human weaponry shook the ground around Brian and the small prawn. The mercenaries rained down a steady stream of gunfire, you could almost see the lead flying through the air. Brian took another look at the injured prawn. The way it limped, its color, and age were all vaguely familiar. Without thinking, he undid the straps of his ballistic vest, and pulled it over his head.
"Here. I'm going to put this on you." With some difficulty, Brian fit the vest over the prawn's head. He was just barley able to make the straps on the sides reach. The vest looked awkward on the alien, too loose in some spots, and too tight in others.
"I now its not much, but it is better than nothing. Now you stay right with me, understand? The prawn silently nodded. Brian started off at a steady walk. The prawn was just able to keep up with him. Brian had chosen to take the long way around. It would take more time to reach the vehicle depot, but there was more cover along the way. Brian and the prawn went from cover to cover, slowly making their way to their destination.
"Alright. We are almost there. The depot is right this way." Brian leaned around from the concrete barrier he had been leaning against. The sound of automatic rifle fire suddenly shot through the air. Large chunks of the concrete barrier were blown away, sending shards in directions.
"Shit, get down!" Brian yelled, throwing himself on the ground behind the barrier. The prawn did the same, shaking in fear. Brian removed his helmet, and placed it on the barrel of his shotgun. He slowly raised the shotgun up, so that the helmet slowly rose above the concrete. The rifle rounds tore through the helmet, knocking it off of the shotgun. It rolled a short distance before coming to a stop in the dirt. It was riddled with holes. Brian looked in the direction that they needed to travel, gauging the distance.
"Shit. That asshole has got us zeroed. If we run we won't make it." Brian stared into the distance biting his lip. "I'm going to get a couple of rounds off at him. When I shoot, you get yourself over to the vehicles as fast as you can." The prawn looked around nervously. "You ready?" The young prawn slowly nodded. "Ok...... Now!" Brian stood up quickly, and fired in the direction that the shots had come from. He saw the MNU guard dive behind a concrete wall. Brian fired all eight rounds out of his shotgun. When it ran empty, he tossed it on the ground. By this time, the injured prawn was out of sight. Brian took off in the direction of the vehicles, firing over his shoulder with the revolver. The MNU guard was now returning fire, Brian could feel the rounds impacting the ground around his feet. He felt an extreme impact in his left shin, like he had been hit in the leg with a hammer. He stumbled in the middle of a full run, hitting the ground hard. He stood up, trying desperately to make it to the closest cover. As soon as he put weight on his leg, he collapsed to the ground again. He looked down at the leg, noticing a steady steam of blood pouring from a large hole. Adrenaline prevented much pain from getting trough. Brian struggled to his knees, making sure to not put as much weight on the mangled limb. Another impact, in his left arm. Brian screamed in pain, as two more rounds passed through his back, and exited out of his chest and stomach. He fell forward, landing on his revolver. The world went quiet. Everything was muffled, like it was under water. Brian's vision faded in and out, he struggled to remain conscious. He could hear the sound of the boots crunching over the dirt behind him. Brian could see the shadow of someone moving closer. He heard a rifle being loaded. This was enough to give him one last burst of adrenaline. He rolled over, bringing his pistol to bear on his opponent. He fired, right as he saw the mans face. Brian's first two shots missed their mark, but the third struck the MNU guard directly in the neck. The guard dropped his rifle, and clutched his neck, blood spurting out from the cracks between his fingers. The man stumbled backwards, his eyes still locked on Brian. Brian's arm fell to his side, as the MNU guard hit the ground. He squirmed, making awful choking noises. A moment before he lay still, the man rolled back onto his side, and again stared at brian. His eyes were wide and wild, a look of panic on his face. Brian looked into the man's eyes, and suddenly felt an awful sinking feeling.
"Markus? God damn it............." Brian choked out. Markus now lay completely still. His chest showed no movement, and his eyes stared off into the distance. Brian dragged himself to the closest wall. He sat up against it. He tore open his shirt to reveal his wounds. There were two holes that were steadily oozing blood, one right above Brian's naval, the other on the right side of his chest. He tried to move, but could no longer feel his legs. He coughed. He tasted something metallic in his mouth. Blood.
"Brian? Where the hell are you man? We need to go!!" Brian heard Jacob's voice over the radio.
"Yeah, I'm here." Brian spoke into his radio. He used all of his remaining strength to prevent his voice from wavering. "Did that prawn make it to you guys?"
"The one wearing your vest? Yeah, he made it. You need to hurry man, we need to leave."
"I'm securing my own transport. I'll meet you guys later."
"We are still here, we can come and get you." Jacob responded.
"No. Get yourselves out. You are running out of time." There was a pause over the radio.
"Roger that. See you on the outside." Jacob said reluctantly.
Brian tossed the radio to his side. He looked back over at his dead friend. Markus lay completely still, his pale face expressionless. Brian felt dizzy again, the earth seemed to be falling down around him. He stared up at the empty sky. He took a deep breath in, and slowly exhaled. He slowly blinked one last time, before the world slipped away into blackness.
Stay tuned for more. Thanks for reading, and thanks if you review.
Cheers,
DR Fronkensteen