I sat in the escape pod, surrounded by three other fellow squadmates. I looked up at the corvette which we'd just ejected from. I closed my eyes and sat in silence for a moment. We had left Pink behind. There were two four man pods left and she couldn't fit. She shoved Lilith in and ejected the pod. We didn't even know her name and she gave her life to get us off that ship. I will not forget that. What she did for my team will never be forgotten.
I looked back at the other occupants who rocked with the jolts of the pod, bodies almost limp. I knocked my head back against the organic material in which this strange, intricately designed pod was made of. I sighed, drifting off into my memories.
15 Years Ago
"Daddy?"
"What is it Sam?"
"When is Mom coming home?"
My father sighed and placed a hand over his eyes before looking down at me, his eyes surrounded by dark drooping skin.
He smiled a comforting smile, "Come here darling." he said, picking me up and placing me on his lap.
I had just turned 5 and my mom had been gone for a few weeks. She said she'd be back for my birthday, but she never came.
"Your mom has a very important job, and sometimes she just can't leave whenever she wants. But she's off somewhere, fighting the bad guys, ok?" he said.
My face dropped a bit, I had really wanted to see her. I pulled out the tiny toy soldier she'd given me. It was a Spartan, they were like super heroes. I wanted to grow up to be like one of them. But I would be fine with growing up to be like my mom.
I perked up a bit, "When I get older can I go fight bad guys?"
My dad chuckled a bit, "You sure can sweetie."
My dad set me down on the porch of our house, standing on both of his prosthetic legs.
"Now let's go get some ice cream, shall we?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
7 Years Later
I looked in the mirror. I had a picture of my mom's face in the bottom right. She was smiling, her brown shoulder length hair waving in a long past wind, her bottle green eyes sparkling in the summer's sunlight. I gritted my teeth and held back a tear. It had been a year since the covies had killed my mom. I looked in the mirror at my long hair and stared for a bit. I lifted the scissors in my hand and put it to my hair. People always said I look just like her, why not go the whole way. I chopped off the first chunk of hair, letting the good 8" worth fall to the floor. I kept cutting all the way around, slicing off thick, long strands of lines of hair.
I looked at my work once I'd finished. I looked good. I really did look just like Mom. I swore a while back that I would go kill the bastards that took my mom from me. I thumbed her dog tags that hung around my neck.
Thomas
Claire B.
478-10-5239
B Pos
Christian
The dog tag read. I gripped the dog tag in my fist and promised to myself that I would get out of here as soon as possible and join up.
"Samantha, are you up there?" yeled my dad from downstairs.
"We've been over this dad, it's Sam, never Samantha!" I yelled back, slightly annoyed.
"Ok, alright, got it. You've got to go to school now." he said.
I sighed and looped the strap of my backpack onto my shoulder. I walked downstairs, standing in front of my dad.
He smiled, tears brimming his eyes, "You really do look just like her."
"That's what everyone says anyways." I said back, walking out the door and heading off to school.
Later that day
I was breathing frantically. My legs pumping, lungs on fire. I turned my head to look for a moment and saw a marine impaled on the end of a blue sword like weapon. I turned my head back around and shrieked. About 20 yards away stood one of the monsters. It wore blue armor and towered over the tallest man. It held one of the swords and stared right at me. I turned to run but tripped, crawling backwards on my hands. The thing started toward me, its strange mouth opening and closing. I quavered and shook violently in the bitter cold of the evening. I looked up and gulped, praying to every god I'd ever heard of that something would stop it. Something. Anything.
As I stared up I noticed something in the sky. It was moving fast and coming towards me. I curled up as the object collided with the ground in front of me, showering me in dirt and pebbles. A man wearing armor walked out, but his armor was different. He looked like he wore better armor than the marines. I couldn't see his face through the visor on his helmet. i curled up again as bullets sprayed from the gun in his hands. It was a violent sound, ripping through the air and shredding into the monster. The monster charged the man but he stood strong and continued shooting. The monster fell at his feet. He shot it twice more and mumbled to himself.
"Insurance policy…"
He walked over to me and crouched, "You alright kid?" he asked.
I nodded, unable to speak from the shock. He stood up and began speaking into a radio, something about hopeless, survivors, and-pelicans?
Everything else was a blur, the next thing I remember was being shaken back to reality sitting in a strange ship. The same man who'd saved me looking at me.
"You still with me?"
I nodded drowsily, the day's events taking a toll on my small 12 year old form.
"You were really brave today, yeah?" he said, his helmet gone, his smile sincere.
I couldn't help but smile back. He was a soft faced soldier, nothing like what they made them out to be. He wasn't a savage, brutish, chiseled mountain of a man. He just looked like a teenage boy to me. He patted my shoulder and walked off. My head lulled to the side, and my eyes slowly closed under the weight of the events of the day. The last thing I heard before I passed out was the voice of another soldier talking about the imminent glassing of the planet. Whatever that meant.
Present Day
I looked around the cabin of the escape pod. I snapped back to reality, it only being an actuality of about 5 minutes. Everyone else looked deep in thought. I was tired. My head lulled to the side, and my eyes slowly closed under the weight of the events of the day.
Surprise! Sam is not who you thought she was. I don't think many of you were able to pick apart the fact that she was a girl, maybe some of my more observant readers. Maybe I made some mistakes that lead you to believe she was male? If I did, let me know. If I fooled you, let me know. And if you guessed it, let me know! I love reading each and every review, and will reply to each and every question you have. If you are a guest user, I can't respond to your question, and I'm sorry.
Till next time,
TheLooneyBin