Chapter 3: Fly
Two years have passed since Charley and Vinnie got married and still, neither of them had any plans of slowing down to have children. Vinnie still had his work with the freedom fighters and Charley worked many long hours at the Martian garage. Along with them not having children, Carbine and Throttle also had their plates full with their duties. Modo ended up getting married last year to a super sweet white-furred mouse named Karina and had two children already. They were planning on having many more.
This morning, Vinnie had gone to work early, allowing Charley to sleep in. He knew she had a rough night last night. She had been up and down most of the night heaving over the toilet in an attempt to empty whatever was bothering her stomach. Vinnie chalked it up to little sleep, long work hours, and not so great meals the last couple of weeks. Of course, he had a cast iron stomach and could eat anything on the planet, which he did with much gusto. Charley was still human and there were certain Martian foods that still upset her stomach on occasion.
Charley awoke about an hour after Vinnie left and ran to the toilet, falling to her knees as she gripped the rim of the porcelain throne. She coughed and dry heaved until her whole body shook with pain. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she slowly stood up but kept a hand firmly pressed to her stomach as she slowly made her way back to bed and collapsed at the foot of it.
"Welp Charley girl. I think it's time we went to the doctor. I hope they have one here that deals with humans as well as mice" she shivered as she reached over to grab the martian phone and dialed Karina, since she was a stay at home mom who knew practically everyone on the planet.
"Hello" Karina cheerfully said as she picked up the phone.
"Hey Karina, it's Charley" she said.
"Hey Charley! What's going on?" she could tell by the sound of Charley's voice that she was under the weather and wondered what it was.
"Do you know a doctor who deals with humans? I'm sick" Charley inquired out of her bubbly friend. The only reason why Charley didn't know the answer to that question was because, she was so busy with work and had never gotten sick in the two years since her arrival that she found it unnecessary to look for one.
"You do realize that should have been one of the first things you should have located after your arrival" Karina chuckled as she thought about the few available doctors on Mars and then remembered one, in particular, who made house calls.
"I know. I realized that five minutes before calling you" Charley attempted to chuckle but curled up in a ball on the edge of the bed. Feeling absolutely miserable.
"Ok. I do know one mouse who does make house calls. If you want me to, I can give her a call and have her come over" Karina said, knowing that there were actually two mice who made house calls but, she figured Charley would want a female over a male mouse examining her in the privacy of her home.
"That would be awesome. I don't even feel like a can drive to work" Charley responded before coughing again and then rolling off of the bed, making her way to the bathroom with a hand held to her stomach. She dropped the phone on the floor and started dry heaving, again, into the toilet for a couple of minutes.
"Sorry about that" Charley said after she finished worshiping the china goddess.
"No problem. I'll give the doctor a call and call you back once I know what time she'll be at your place"
"Thanks. I'll be right here, feeling like I'm dying" Charley moaned as she used the toilet to help her stand up and made her way over to the sink.
After hanging the phone up, she looked at herself in the mirror and then ran her fingers through her auburn tresses, which had finally grown out back to the middle of her back. Even though Vinnie thought her short hair was cute, he made it not so obvious that he enjoying running his fingers through her longer hair.
Grabbing a wash cloth from the edge of the white pedestal sink, she turned on the faucet and soaked the small towel with cold water. Looking back in the mirror, she ran the wet cloth over her face and neck to make an attempt to feel and, sort of, look a little bit better.
She just hoped that the doctor wasn't too busy making house calls.
P.O.V.
Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie made their way to the outskirts of the city in order to investigate a potential Plutarkian invasion. As usual, they were more than a little excited at the thought of getting even with the stink-fishes
Of course, they just hated the fact that the Plutarkians kept coming back even though they were constantly defeated by the freedom fighters.
Fly, fly little wing
Fly beyond imagining
The softest cloud, the whitest dove
Upon the wind of heaven's love
Past the planets and the stars
Leave this lonely world of ours
Escape the sorrow and the pain
And fly again
Looking out, over the horizon, Throttle spotted a Plutarkian destroyer ship loading up unwilling mice into it. With a nod from Throttle, the three of them mounted their bikes and made their way as loudly as they could down to the ship.
It didn't take them very long to free all the mice and run the Plutarkians back into their ship, screaming and fleeing for their lives.
"Welp, another day and another stink-fish running away" Throttle commented as he put in a call to General Carbine, letting her know that the information that they had received was correct and that they would be on their way home as soon as they could locate where Vinnie had run off to.
"Hey. I thought you'd be at work" Vinnie said, knowing that he needed to get back to Throttle and Modo but, the thought of seeing her was more enticing.
"I missed you" she said as she closed the space between them. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled herself closer to him. She seductively pressed her hips closer to his and gave him a ghost of a smile.
"I can tell" he chuckled as he ran his fingers through her soft, auburn hair.
"What else can you tell?" she questioned as she slid one of her hands down his chest, to his waist.
"Hey Vinnie!" he heard Throttle call out but, was still unable to see him due to the fact that his wife had lured him behind a large mound.
Fly, fly precious one
Your endless journey has begun
Take your gentle happiness
Far too beautiful for this
Cross over to the other shore
There is peace forevermore
But hold this mem'ry bittersweet
Until we meet
"Look babe. I gotta get back to work. We'll finish this tonight, since you're obviously feeling a lot better" Vinnie stated as he removed her hands from him, kissed her on the forehead, and proceeded to walk away from her.
"There won't be a tonight" she whispered, withdrawing a a capped syringe from her pocket and uncapped it.
"Huh?" Vinnie questioned as he turned to where Charley was and found someone else standing in her place. It had Charley's shape but, was all one black mass. Before he had a chance to react, the thing moved with lightening fast reflexes and and stabbed him the neck with the syringe, injecting his with a toxin.
"Don't worry. Charley will be a good hands very soon" the creature said as it got ready to assume a new shape but, was interrupted when Throttle and Modo showed up and discovered Vinnie holding onto his neck.
Fly, fly do not fear
Don't waste a breath, don't shed a tear
Your heart is pure, your soul is free
Be on your way, don't wait for me
Above the universe you'll climb
On beyond the hands of time
The moon will rise, the sun will set
But I won't forget
"What the hell?" Modo asked as he raised his gun arm and proceeded to fire at at the creature but, it disappeared before it had Modo had even a chance to hit it.
"Modo. Vinnie needs out help" Throttle said as he lowered his friend and comrade to the ground. Blood oozed out of the neck wound as Throttle took one of his bandannas and pressed it against the opening, hoping to slow it down.
"Come on man. You've had worse" Modo said as knelt beside his fallen comrade.
"Get a hold of Carbine. We need immediate assistance. Hurry" Throttle was shaking as he looked back over at Vinnie, who was shaking and unable to speak. Throttle looked down at where his hand was holding pressure against his neck and saw the syringe and some remnants of a clear, gel-like substance.
As Throttle held onto his friend, he could only watch as time seemed to trickle by while Vinnie's body began to tremor and saliva began to dribble out of his mouth.
"Their sending help but, it's going to be about an hour before they can get out here" Modo said as he knelt beside Vinnie. Their bikes gathered around and could only watch and wait.
"We're right here man. We ain't going nowhere" Modo said as he grabbed his friend's shaking hand and felt him squeeze.
"Don't worry Vin. We got your back" Throttle stated as he pulled the syringe out and tossed it off to the side.
Modo reached into the side compartment of his bike and pulled out a warming blanket. He placed it over Vinnie and hoped that it would help.
Throttle shook his head. He knew his friend wouldn't make it more than another twenty minutes. And he hated the thought of delivering bad news to Charley, considering that Vinnie had said she hadn't been feeling good the past couple of days.
Throttle and Modo looked at each other and shook their heads. Vinnie was fading fast and neither of them knew what to do. They had never seen a poison work so quickly and with such ferocity on a body.
Fly, fly little wing
Fly where only angels sing
Fly away, the time is right
Go now, find the light
The rescue medics arrived sooner than they thought but, it was too late. Vinnie was dead twenty minutes after they made the call and just ten minutes before the medics arrived. Throttle explained, while handing them the syringe, of what they had witnessed and even the medical staff had never seen anything like it. They said they would test what was left and see if there were any clues in Vinnie's body that could give them an idea of what they were looking for and if there was a cure for it.
Throttle and Modo mounted their bikes and watched as they medical ship took off with Vinnie and his bike on board.
"Let's go home. I need to tell Carbine what happened" Throttle said as he brushed hi shoulder length blond hair away from his face and put his helmet on. Modo followed suit and they rode off towards the Martian city.
P.O.V.
"VINNIE!" Charley screamed as a vision of dying faded from her view.
I know. Cliffhanger. I hope nobody gets too upset. I hate upsetting my readers. Special shout out to: BookWorm4321: I'm glad that you are liking the story so far.
DinoDragonMaster: As always, thank you for all your help and inspiration with my writing.
Yankee71: Sorry it took me so long to get back on writing. Just finally got internet back on and am hoping to back my head back in the game.
I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. As always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or something that you would like to see featured in one of the upcoming chapters, feel free to speak up. Many CYBER HUGS to all readers and reviewers.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all.
