Meet me at my lunch break I have something to tell you.
I stuck my phone back in my pocket and resumed looking down the sight of my gun. There had been reports of dweller activity in the area and it was my teams job to take care of them.
“When are you gonna stop staring at that phone of yours James?” Jet asked.
“Why don't you keep your eyes on the target so we can get this job done.” I said.
I scoured the bases of the buildings, with my scope, looking for any sign of the dwellers or the princess. This wasn't our usual search and destroy mission. The princess was along this time and she intended to capture the dwellers for her personal use.
“Would you two shut up. I've got eyes on the target.” Princess said.
“What's your location?” I asked.
“Half a block from the old theater on Barron street.” Princess said.
I adjusted the focus of my scope to a wider range so I could find the old theater quicker. She was a little more than a block away from the old theater and the dwellers weren't far off.
Down the street from Princess an alpha dweller along with two betas. The alpha stood atop one of the rusty vehicles smelling for food. The betas looked like they were guarding it. This was a rare sight, seeing dwellers roam in a pack. Hopefully there weren't anymore.
“I'm moving in.” Princess said.
I watched as she walked down the street to these vicious beasts. They growled and snapped at her as she approached with caution. As Princess drew closer the alpha swiped its claws at her. Princess paused for a second and reached into her bag. She pulled a big heaping chunk of meat and tossed it on the ground in front of her.
Ring Ring
Could you bring some chocolate? I'm really craving chocolate right now. -Luciel
“James, put the damn phone down. We have a problem.” Jet said.
I laid my phone down next to my gun and looked back down the scope.
“What do you got for me?” I asked.
“Two unknowns on the rooftop of the apartment complex down the street from Princess.” Jet said.
“Got’em.” I said.
They were too far away to make out exactly who they were, but I could easily see guns over their shoulders. Right then and there it was time to call the mission. I didn't like unknown factors when working a protection job. We planned on entering a completely barren city.
“That's it, I'm calling it.” I said packing up my bipod.
“Not yet. I almost have him.” Princess said.
“What are you doing? We have a job to do.” Jet said.
“You got five minutes to make a move. I'm heading in for extraction.” I said.
I began my descent down the rocky cliffside towards the city. No trees and no grass to give me cover, I was a prime target for anyone hunting us. I moved building to building keeping an eye on the unknowns watching Princess. Shattered windows, crumbling bricks, overgrown structures, and crappy roadways was all that was left of this once beautiful city.
“Whats your six?” Jet asked.
“Block out from Princess.” I said waiving my phone in the air.
“I'm oughta shoot that thing out of your hand.” Jet said.
Around the corner of the building I could see Princess, the dwellers, and the unknowns. I moved quickly and quietly along the buildings trying to stay out of the unknowns sights. The alpha seemed to only pay attention to Princess as I got closer.
Ring Ring
“Damn it. Not right now.” I whispered.
Ring Ring
I stuck close to the wall of the building right next to Princess. A concrete planter with a half dead shrub provided me cover from the unknowns as I pulled out my phone.
Could you please hurry. I really want that chocolate now. -Luciel
I heard a gunshot followed by the hissing of a bullet. Metal and concrete sparked as the bullet ricocheted off the ground and into a car. I rolled out from cover and flipped the caps up on my scope as I positioned myself to shoot at the unknowns. More bullets followed in succession, raining down around me. I flinched down into my arms waiting for the bullets to stop. Surprisingly none of them made contact with me, but why weren't they aiming for Princess, she was out in the open.
“Hey, I think those guys just shot at you.” Jet said.
“No shit Sherlock.” I snapped back. I readied my gun and looked down the scope. I came scope to scope with one of the unknowns and they looked posses. The one pointing its gun at me was yelling at the other one. The other one looked a little frightened. Before I could pull the trigger I saw a muzzle flash from their gun. I tried rolling back into cover, but the bullet lodged right into my side.
“Fuck! That hurts.” I said sitting up against the planter. I pressed my hand against the bullet hole to slow the bleeding. “Are you gonna fucking shoot that gun or am I gonna have to hobble my ass up there and shoot you with it?”
“The guns jammed.” Jet said.
“Bullshit! I'm calling evac.” I said. I pulled out my phone and dialed evac. A faint beeping noise persisted and then a timer popped up on the screen.
ETA 5 minutes.
“Hold on for two seconds.” Princess said. “I almost got him.”
“To late, they're on their way.” I said. “Luciel's already gonna be pissed at me for getting shot.” I set my gun up on the planter, struggling to keep the gun steady enough to line up a clear shot. My hands shaking, body quaking, legs wobbling, and I swear I was getting colder. The line in my scope lined up with the head of the unknown and bang! A cloud of dust poofed into the air, I missed. I pulled back the bolt, one casing flew out, I slowly pushed the bolt forward, another bullet loaded into the chamber. I quickly realized I wasn't using normal bullets. High impact, glass tipped, sulfur concentrated, marksman rifle bullets used for blinding and potentially burning targets.
“Arctic Winter to Princess revenge, copy?” Daniels radioed.
“Read you loud and clear Arctic.” I responded.
“We are thirty seconds out of your position. Prep all cargo for evac.” Daniels said.
“Rodger.” I called back.
I pulled the trigger again sending another plume of smoke up in the air.
“I need more time.” Princess said.
“You put that collar on it now or I'm killing it.” I said.
“If you kill the alpha I will kill you.” Jet said.
I looked over at Princess. She slowly took the collar off her back and held it out to the alpha dweller. The alpha smelled the collar hesitantly. It slashed its claws at it knocking it out of Princess’s hands.
The evac helicopter flew overhead. The alpha dweller ran off into the streets. I tried to shoot it, but missed every shot. The helicopter slowly hovered and then landed on the street where the alpha once stood.
I slowly stood up, using my gun as a crutch. The helicopter was just a little far away. It felt like it took forever to reach. Daniels was waiting for me and the Princess at the back hatch. This wasn't your ordinary helicopter, it was like something straight out of a syfy movie.
“Hey Daniels, you got any chocolate on this rustbucket?” I asked crutching back to the helicopter.
“Betsy is far from a rust bucket and no.” Daniels said.
“He’s lying to ya.” Rusko laughed. “He hides it with the emergency medkit.”
“Perfect.” I said.
“If you touch my chocolate I will toss you out of Betsy personally.” Daniels said.
Rusko and Daniels helped me on to the helicopter. Princess helped strap me into a seat. We picked up Jet and returned to the hospital.
The helicopter landed on the helipad on top of the hospital. The back hatch opened up slowly. Princess helped me out on to solid ground. Waiting for me at the rooftop entrance was Luciel and she didn't look to happy.
“What in the world did I tell you before you left?” Luciel asked angrily.
“Don't get shot, it’s my birthday.” I said.
“Exactly, now we’ll have to cancel dinner tonight.” Luciel said.
“There are no take backs on my promise to you.” I reassured her.
“This isn't your choice.” Luciel said. “Look at yourself you can barely walk and you're pale as a ghost.”
I held out my arm and pulled Luciel in for a hug. She buried her head into my chest and I kissed her on top of the head.
“I will drag myself to the diner if I have to.” I said.
Luciel raised her head and looked at me with watery eyes. She wore a beautiful smile.
“Look at me I'm crying over nothing.” Luciel laughed wiping the tears from her face. I leaned down as she pulled on my collar. Her soft lips pressed against mine. It was gentle like all of her kisses. Like there was innocence behind them instead of pure lust.
She helped me down to my ICU where the bullet was taken out and the bullet hole was patched up. It took several stitches on both my front and back to seal up the wound. The process was painful without going through the standard coma process, but with it being a simple bullet wound I found it unnecessary to be put under. I also didn't feel the need to wear Blue out on her day off.
“What did you want to tell me?” I asked.
“First, do you have my chocolate?” Luciel asked.
I gave her a funny look and patted myself down like I was searching for the chocolate. It was nowhere to be found, but its not like I had any in the first place. Empty pockets meant no chocolate for her and essentially none for me.
“Daniels wouldn't give up his supply.” I said.
“Daniels isn't supposed to have chocolate.” Luciel said.
“Wait, why not?” I asked.
“James, he's a diabetic. He's your flight man you should be watching this.” Luciel said.
“He never told me this.” I said.
“Just make sure he doesn't go overboard. I don't feel like telling his wife.” Luciel said.
“So, what were you going to tell me?” I asked.
Luciel immediately turned her head away, hiding her red face.
“I- I got a raise.” Luciel said.
“Your stalling.” I said.
“No I'm not! I just don't know how to tell you.” Luciel said.
“Tell me what?” I asked.
“Tell you that I'm pregnant.” Luciel said
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