Sooner or later, the Warthog containing West Virginia arrived at one of the bases stationed twenty miles off of the edge of the forest. Here, the terrain was rocky and dry. Off in the far distance, huge, snowcapped mountains could be spotted. Remarkably, there was almost no vegetation here, except for the slowly dying weeds around the rocks and the occasional dead tree sticking out of cracks in the ground.
The Irish soldier pulled the Warthog up to the main entrance of what looked like a simulation Blue Base. The roar of the engine caught the interest of one soldier on patrol. He stopped walking around the perimeter and came over to greet the newcomers. He foolishly swung his Battle Rifle over his right shoulder.
"Hey! What'cha doing back so early O'Donnell?" The soldier asked.
"We got lost. And then we stumbled on a badly hurt soldier." The driver, O'Donnell explained. "Grant and I couldn't just leave her."
"Oh, dude, a Chic?" The soldier crowed in a perverted manner. He slapped his knee with his open hand. "Sweet! I love babes!"
West was listening right there. And that was when she made a mental note to kill him slowly and painfully. Her mind was then tinted with cold pleasure after that.
"Naw, dude, I already called Dibs on her." The other soldier, Grant, proclaimed. "Sorry Rodgers."
Make that two she would kill slowly.
"So where is everybody?" O'Donnell asked.
"Everyone left on that mission, remember. The one you were supposed to go on." Rodgers stated in a dead serious tone. He kicked the Warthog as if trying to make his point. "It's only me and that medic that's staying with us."
"Where is he?" Grant asked.
"On the observation deck. Grab her and I'll take you two to him." Rodgers said as he headed into the base.
The Warthog was turned off and West could feel weak hands grab her limp body. They dragged her across the floor of the vehicle, as if she was just luggage. As she got to the edge of the car, West felt as if she would fall over and lose her breath. It almost happened, but the "simulation stooges" caught her in the nick of time.
With great difficulty, the simulation stooges brought West inside the base. The hot, dry air was cut off as they walked pass the air conditioner. West was quickly covered in goose bumps and was metaphorically sitting on edge throughout her capture.
The simulation stooges stopped for a second. It was silent in the base. West began to dread each second as she thought out scenario after scenario. Did they discover that she was feigning sleep? Or did they realize that she was supposed to be a dead Freelancer?
The suspense was horrible. Were they just going to shoot her there? If they were, she needed to take action soon. But with her right arm useless, how was she going to fight them? The thought of death creeped in both West's and Delta's combined minds.
"God, I fucking hate stairs." Grant muttered.
A way of relief flooded both of them. No shooting, no killing. And that was good.
Slowly, the simulation stooges made their way up the stairs. It took forever, but thankfully, they didn't drop West down the stairs. When they finally made it up to the observation deck, both of the simulation stooges were letting out long streams of cuss words.
"Well what do we have here?" A fourth soldier, the medic, asked.
"We found her in the forest to the south. She's totally unconscious, could barely speak when we found her." Grant informed.
West raised a mental eyebrow at Delta, who just pushed her mental being away from him. It was an AIs way of saying "I don't want to talk about it". West had gotten that a lot from Phi, so she didn't press any further.
"I thought the bases there were abandoned?" The medic questioned.
"Hey, she didn't tell us what happened to her, or why she was there." O'Donnell aloofly stated as both simulation stooges dropped West to the ground.
West's head rang with pain as she hit the floor. But she managed to remain limp instead of jumping up and breaking their necks.
"Let's take a look at her, shall we?" The medic said.
West saw through her helmet her saviors. Though to her, they were more than her capturers; they were her to be torturers. She began to freak out as the medic brought his hands to her head to remove her helmet. Two other soldiers were kneeling next to the medic, as if to see if West was hot. The other soldier was going down the stairs, not really interested in what the simulation stooges found.
Slowly, the medic unsealed West's helmet. West closed her eyes so it would look like she was still knocked out. The medic softly cradled West's damaged head as if it was a newborn infant. He handed her helmet to one of the simulation stooges. He took it, but not with great care. As soon as he got a hold of her helmet, he tossed it aside like junk.
"Wow . . . she looks pretty messed up." Rodgers pointed out. "Just look at her hair."
"Wait a second." The medic said in a surprised voice. West could feel him breathing on her face as he got closer to study her facial features. He must have taken off his helmet as well. "I've seen this face before. But that was years ago."
That was enough for West. Without a single warning, West curled her functioning hand into a fist and punched the medic in the nose. The medic fell over in surprise rather in pain. However, a trickle of blood appeared between his fingers as he held his nose. The other two soldiers also took a couple steps backward.
With her adrenaline filled body, West Virginia jumped up from the ground into a defensive combative position. Her vision became blurry from the sudden movement, but that only lasted for a second. Her right arm lay useless at her side while her left was tensed and ready to fight. Her head also seemed to hang to the right, as if her recent brain damage had caused it.
"Who wants some?" West taunted, her eyes were filled with hatred and she wore a malicious grin.
The shocked simulation stooges got over their shock and got their guns ready. Even the medic pulled out his magnum. It was silent as they tried to find the courage to shoot at the mad soldier.
"Guess no one," West muttered to herself.
It was then that she ran towards the one named Grant. Finally, the simulation stooges and the medic found the strength to pull the trigger. Bullets flew everywhere, but since they were not trained properly to handle weapons, every single one missed their target.
West didn't notice that though, she was focused on Grant. Grant was her target, her prey. And she was the strong, rabid predator. This was her game, and she played it well.
While Grant reloaded his weapon, West took his arm and wrapped it around to his back. She quickly put force into her attack and she easily twisted his arm hard enough for it to break. Grant screamed in pain like a wuss. He instinctively wanted to drop down and cradle his injury.
But West didn't allow it. The other two soldiers were shooting at her, and she was no longer able to dodge bullets by moving. With her strength, West picked up wailing Grant and used him as a human shield. With him, she walked into one of the bases entrances. Along the way, West could feel the force of each bullet that entered Grant's body. Blood splattered everywhere, and soon West's armor was covered in red. He hid by the right side of a storage room.
"How's my six?"West shouted at Delta over the roar of bullets.
"The other simulation soldier has yet to arrive. But statistically, he should arrive in twenty three seconds via the door to the left of this room." Delta informed.
The rain of bullets ended from the outside. Quickly, West grabbed Grant's Battle Rifle and shoved him outside. His dead body left no resistance and was soon lying in its own blood. There were a couple shots as the simulation stooges thought Grant was West Virginia.
"That bitch!" Rodgers seethed. West could tell that now he was extremely pissed off.
But not as pissed off as West was. Her grimy, bloody face boasted a grimace and squinted eyes filled with a wild vengeance. She cocked the Battle Rifle with her working hand.
"On your six!" Delta shouted.
West turned around just in time to see O'Donnell without his helmet on come out of the left doorway. Before he even realized what was happening, West shot a couple rounds into his forehead, and even some in his eyes too for good measure. O'Donnell couldn't even let out a scream of pain as he fell down dead.
"Stupid simulation stooge." West thought. "Never go into battle without a helmet on. Speaking of which . . ."
Carefully, West took her taken Battle Rifle and set it on the holder on the back of the armor. With it secure, she grabbed the knife that she kept by her waist.
"Delta, form a hologram of myself in five seconds." West muttered.
"Understood." Delta said.
West counted to five, and Delta appeared as West in Carolina's armor. He also looked as crazed as West. Blood covered, a gun in the left hand, and the right hand hung as useless as a dead, rotting fish.
"Sync!" West Virginia shouted.
And as soon as she said it, West did a barrel roll to the other side of the room. And at the same time, Delta ran outside, gun held crookedly but affectedly. The simulation soldiers fell for the bait and fired at Delta instead of noticing West Virginia. The bullets just passed through the hologram, not effecting Delta at all.
"What the hell?" The medic exclaimed. He started to take a couple steps backwards as he was running low on shells.
Just as he said it, West pin pointed his location and swung around the entrance. As fast as she could, West flung the knife towards the medic. She didn't take the time to see if it hit her mark, because she entered the room again as Rodgers fired some shells. However, she did quickly see Delta disappear from his holographic form.
"Marty!" Rodgers lamented as he saw his last colleague fall to the ground.
"Oh, this is just bullshit!" The medic muttered with his terminal breath; the knife stuck perfectly where his heart was. "Get that bitch for me Rodgers . . ."
"I won't do it for you, pal. I'd do it for me." Rodgers fumed. He then raised his volume for West to hear clearly. "It's just you and me now, bitch. You wanted some? Well, come and get some!"
An invitation, just how West liked it.
West took her Battle Rifle off of her back and cocked it. The sound rang in her ears like a train whistle. No matter how she didn't like it, no matter how much pain she went through, this was what West trained for— lived for. West lived to kill.
She quickly wiped some of Grant's blood off of her forehead. Determination and raw instinct over took West as she again turned around the base's entrance.
The air was filled with flying bullets. Both soldiers let out an animal scream. West expertly dodged bullets as she jumped over boxes with an occasional tuck and roll through the empty space. West was gaining ground as the simulation stooge subconsciously walked backwards. Only some bullets met their mark, but they were so badly placed that it didn't impede West's progress.
Both guns were firing without end. It was as if time had slowed down itself. West watched with malevolent interest as bullet holes formed on Rodgers. Each hit sent him flying back and off balance. It was then that West Virginia got the upper hand. With less mercy than before, which there was none, West kept her finger tight on the trigger. This let an endless stream of bullets out of the Battle Rifle.
If felt like minutes, but it only was seconds until Rodgers fell to the ground, dying. With his Assault Rifle out of his reach, he stayed where he was on the ground, moaning. West casually walked up to him and kicked his gun further away.
With his last bit of strength, Rodgers took off his helmet to get one last look at his attacker. What stared at West was a face that didn't look any older than sixteen.
West's heart dropped. He was practically a child. Sixteen was at such an early age to die, let alone join the army. In that way, Rodgers reminded West of herself. But she never felt sorry for him; no one ever felt sorry for her. Except her friends, and for all that she knew, he could have been the one who killed New Mexico, Kans, or Deli.
In one last act of defiance, Rodgers mustered up enough strength to spit on West's closest foot. West didn't like that, not one bit. She raised her weapon so it aligned with this head. His lips were now covered with a dripping, dark liquid.
"Who's your babe, now?" West said, her head tilted and right eye temporarily blinded. To Rodgers, she looked like a deranged zombie, waiting to dine on his flesh.
And with that, West shot one last round. Rodgers' uneasy breathing stopped and the world was silent once more. West put her taken Battle Rifle on her back again and picked up her helmet that was by her feet. She put it under one of her arms and headed into the Blue Base. But not before taking in a deep breath of fresh air that had a metallic tint.
West had literally taken four soldiers out single handedly. A fact that she greatly took pride in.
"I think we can locate this Caboose without a problem now, can't we Delta?" West Virginia cheerfully said. The fight had somehow put her into a good mood, and she was now smiling like the little creep she was.
"That is correct. However, I advise that you rest until you are of better health. Then we can proceed with our plan without further setbacks." Delta said in a concerned tone.
West let out a maniac like laugh. Her head rolled around as if it was just partially attached to her neck. Her eyes were off center, showing that West was now completely isolated from reality. Delta secretly wished that this, like her paralyzed arm, was only temporary.
"Delta, I will not rest until the deaths of my friends are avenged. Not now that I know there's someone to blame other than my Father. Even if that means going as far as killing Caboose, and all of his friends, family, and colleagues. Now get in that fucking computer and find that God damn soldier!"