A Letter Home

Gem is in a habit of writing to her mother when moving to a military base what adventures await and what to write back home?

A Letter Home

By Leigh Hodgens and Jeff Margavage

Hey mom,

It’s me, Gem. Jeez... why do I still do that? Who else would it be… Anyway things are going well. In fact I have some exciting news for you. I might have found Mr Right. But there’s a teeny problem. Well I am kinda trapped with him in a smoky a*s base and am already lost. A little panicked. I suppose  I wish you were here. You probably would have found the exit by now. I can hear you already, “tsk tsk, Gem can’t you follow simple directions?” that’s what you say. Can’t believe I might die like this...

Well at least I made it to the base alright. The flight over was a little bumpy the pilot informed us  that  we were passing a meteor storm. I handled the turbulence pretty well I think. No sickness this time heh. you would properly  be proud of that alone. the base is huge... like  the size of our town all in one building so you can’t blame me for getting lost. Besides it’s all number directions, so it’s a miracle I made it to my barracks. Rylan Kanne, one of my fellow privates, well actually she was already a Specialist or E4,  helped me out and I actually got my own quarters. I’m not in the open sharing space. I’ve got my own little private….well semi private area.  Rylan said I lucked out since there are currently no other enlisted women at this particular base.

Next thing I know there this earthquake sort of thing and a massive explosion and I’m knocked on my a*s. (yes mom I know I have padding there, Thanks) .. anyway Rylan is dragging me out the room and we are all hustling to the exit. now I don’t know how, and no rolling your eyes, mom but… I tripped. ok I admit it I tripped.  Went down hard but no one saw me fall so I got left behind and that brings me to my next problem. the base is getting harder to navigate because there’s smoke meaning something (at least it’s not your cooking) is on fire  and I stumbled upon Mr Right .. well he looks like a Mr Right, but he’s unconscious.. And now I’m half carrying half dragging him around with me as I try and guess the exit… maybe I should have left bread crumbs?

The barracks had filled with smoke to the point where I could barely breathe. As I stumbled around searching for the exit, I happened to find a man had collapsed near the office area. Apparently one of the rafters from the roof had given way and knocked him unconscious I couldn’t just leave him there. I did my best to wake him but it looks like he took a pretty hard hit. I’m just really glad the rafter wasn’t actually on him. Since he can’t walk on his own, I did my best to pick him up. I guess I’m not as strong as I hoped I’d be in a situation like this, but I’ll damn sure drag him if I have to. I swear I’m going in circles. I’ve got my bandana tied around my face to help me breathe in this smoke. This guy I am dragging around seems to be gaining  some sort of awareness but I’m still freaking lost. At least its not getting warmer in here think that would mean am getting closer to whatever is burning. I rest the guy on a wall as I try and recover my breath. I never knew being the hero was this much work?  “Listen guy  maybe you could wake up and give me a hand ?” I ask  mostly out of frustration and if am honest desperation my pale sender frame was  close to giving out. I took a few more unsteady breaths and crouched down beside him “come on, buddy... you’re not exactly light ya know..” I was aware I was probably not going to get a response.

i resumed  my grip on him around his chest when he suddenly coughed and opened his eyes. He was pretty out of it but at least he was awake. “Whoa… what the hell hit me?” he muttered. “i think a rafter so you’re pretty lucky to wake up right now.. Speaking of which you know the way out?” I asked, I wasn't going to wander around blind because of pride I just hoped this guy was aware enough to know  where we were. “Sneaky b***h rafter… I always thought they looked shifty”, he replied with half a smile. I think he was hoping to calm me down. “Do you know the way out of here? You look pretty new.” I sighed  maybe he wasn’t all there right now. “Oh… wait, you just asked me that didn’t you?” he replied shaking his head, I guess to wake himself up a bit. “Well smack my a*s and call me polly parrot… Sorry about that. I guess I got my bell rung harder than I thought… Help me up and we’ll see about getting out of here,” the guy replied at first sounding like a redneck and then taking a more serious tone. Hmm quite  the character this guy. I moved  from my position to grab his arm and pulled him to his feet. “Last thing I remember, I was at my desk.” he muttered looking around. “Holy s**t, what’s going on? Did you drag me all the way over here? In this smoke? That’s pretty impressive,” the mysterious stranger blurted out. “Well… thanks, but… we really should get out of here,” I responded, maybe with a hint of frustration to my voice. “Jeez… no need to bite my head off…” he replied after taking a surprised step back. Ok… so maybe it was more than a hint of frustration… and I guess I sort of yelled it… rather harshly. “Let’s get moving then,” he replied with a smile, with that he charged past me to the door… with the big EXIT sign over it. “Ta Da!” the very very strange man replied outside as he curtseyed.

I guess foolish would be an incredible understatement on my part. Strangely, though, the man ran back into the building and led me out by my hand. “Are you ok,” he asked in a very much serious but kinder tone, “I apologize. I sometimes forget my manners.” I was still a little stunned  but  that could have been from the smoke I had inhaled at that point  but  am pretty sure I blushed at that .. maybe the soot and that covered it .. I could hope  “i… am ok  just a little tired  thanks..” I muttered out a response as I  found a nice spot to sit and just breathe for a while. “Thank goodness,” the man replied following closely, “I can’t thank you enough for what you did back there. What’s your name, private?” “My name is Rayne, Rayne Davenport. But my friends call me Gem,” I replied extending my hand for him to shake. “Suits you,” the man smiled, “But if you don’t mind I’ll have to call you Private Davenport… seeing as how I’m an officer and all that.”

In a bit of shock I gave him a bit of an incredulous look, “Is he f*****g serious?” I thought as I suddenly noticed the two silver bars on his collar. “Holy s**t… sir...I meant no disrespect…” I tried to blurt out as I jumped to my feet to salute him. It might have been the sudden standing… maybe the smoke, but my head suddenly went all loopy for a second. I thought I was going to faint. His strong hands steadied me, “At ease, Private Davenport. You’ve had quite a day.” He smiled kindly and helped ease me back to a seated position. “Captain Hawthorn L Davison,” he replied with a smile, “My friends call me Hawk… but we’ll keep that our little secret for now.” He finished whispering with a wink. Not a flirty wink… I don’t think it was anyway. “You saved my life, Private Davenport, I think I could safely say we’re friends now, yes?” I pondered his comment for a moment, “Kind of an odd way to start a friendship, sir,” I replied. He smiled but excused himself because he had to find out what was going on.

I decided it was a good idea to sit where I was and  just focus on breathing  before  walking in roughly the same direction as the captain had until I happened to bump into rylan. She seemed a little  shocked that I was looking like, in her words “i had battled in a warzone” I think that was putting it politely. Rylan quickly asked me what happened I decided to say I had gotten a little lost and she seemed to buy it. I wasn’t sure if should mention meeting the captain just yet. It might gain me friends or enemies needless to say. The rest of the day was pretty calm until the captain came to the barracks to check on our platoon. Luckily the majority of the base was undamaged but the smell of smoke was  still present in some areas. What had caused the damage was anyones guess. A few privates had started rumors  with a bomb from a neighboring country being the most popular. I decided to avoid the rumor mill... I was still trying to figure the way to the showers.

Anyway I did escape from the base ended up saving my captain’s life and made a good friend in Rylan we ended up being maybe even best friends if she didn’t always (and I do mean always mom) wake me up an hour before drill time without fail. Do you know how annoying that is? But then again, you had to do the same thing for me when I was taking my chemistry class in college  or I’d be late… sorry about  being a pain about that. I learned my lesson though and that extra hour did actually allow me a quick shower and to actually find the drill room on time oh! Did I mention i'm getting promoted?  Yeah for saving Hawks life ( yes I can call him hawk in a letter mom) I’m just glad they didn't announce it in front of everyone. I was just slipped a letter saying to be here  at such and such a time  and poof private 2nd class  now I get my stripes though they were sneaky about it.  everyone thinks I got promoted so fast  because of how good I’m doing. Which I suppose is also true, but it’s also because of  saving the captain, but I sorta  guess to prevent favoritism they ain’t stating I saved him just a fellow soldier does that mean another promotion?  Heh not bad  for only being here a few months right mom?

But there is a a slight.. Well  maybe not slight problem of Sergeant Ferguson.. I don’t really wanna call him a sergeant here cause he is a bit of a dick to be honest (yes you raised me better than to curse but I swear he deserves it!)

“Well well well,” the rather unpleasant drill sergeant snorted, “If it isn’t little miss hot s**t… why don’t you help me demonstrate how to not get your a*s kicked.” This wasn’t the first time he singled me out. To be honest, I think the sexist sack of crap considered me his personal punching bag. But no way in hell was I going to let that b*****d break me. And he knew it, I think. Unfortunately he didn’t see it as a strength of character so much as an insult to his idea that women didn’t belong here. So once again I entered the fighting circle. A quick glance around the rest of the platoon showed me what I already knew. He was pretty much a b*****d to everyone. I barely had time to get into position before he had knocked me to the ground. “Aww… did you slip, little miss hotshit?” he barked trying his best to make me look bad. “Sir, no sir,” I snapped back through gritted teeth. I guess he didn’t appreciate that because he was already swinging again before I made it to my feet. Fortunately I managed to block that one, but not the next when he caught me from my blindside with a sucker punch. “Now shall we begin,” he sneered as I gathered myself and got into a fighting stance. “Sir, yes, sir…” I sneered back. As he gave me that s**t eating grin he was famous for, I returned the favor and uppercut him with enough force to actually put him down.  A collective gasp from the rest of the platoon suddenly made me realize I might have made a mistake. As he got to his feet I saw something in his eyes that actually gave me a chill. He suddenly was no longer the drill sergeant… he wanted revenge. “Well… isn’t that a f*****g fine how do you do…” he growled. He was fidgeting with his pocket when he suddenly spun ad kicked me in the face. Those boots really hurt. Suddenly he was on top of me as I reeled on the floor face down. “I’m here to train you maggots how to fight,” he growled in my ear pulling my head from the mat by my hair as he landed an incredibly sharp hit to my kidneys. “So… ya know…” he sneered as he landed another sharp blow, “the enemy doesn’t always play fair… now do they.” I could have sworn I heard something crunch inside me at the third shot. My entire side and back felt like it exploded. The pain was excruciating. I tried so hard not to cry out… but I couldn’t help it. He slammed my face back into the mat as he finally got his weight off of me. When it came to fighting dirty, this man was a surgeon. I was trying to get up when I coughed a mouthful of blood onto the mat. On my hands and knees I couldn’t breathe the room was getting dark… I didn’t want to let him win, so I kept struggling to my feet. A sharp kick to my ribs rolled me to my back. I seriously thought I was going to die… when I heard something…
“What the f**k is going on here,” came an extremely angered yell from somewhere in the distance. I could barely stay awake much less figure out who was yelling. “Officer on deck… Attention,” one of the other privates snapped as the rest of the platoon rose to salute the officer who had just entered the gymnasium. “Just a training exercise… sir…” Sergeant Ferguson almost sneered at the approaching officer. Two fellow privates had come to attend to me apparently at the officer’s request. “Exercise?” Captain Davison growled, “This looks like a goddamned mugging to me, sergeant.” “We can’t teach them how to fight without bruising them up a bit… sir,” Ferguson snapped. “A bit?” I murmured as I coughed more blood onto the floor. Apparently Ferguson didn’t appreciate that and came at me, which as it turns out was a very big mistake. Hawk dropped the b*****d like a ton of bricks with a jab that smashed up the sergeant’s face pretty good. I’m quite sure Hawk broke his jaw and knocked out several teeth…. With one punch. “Private Dods… Private Shilling, please escort Mr. Ferguson to my office if you would. He seems pretty combative, so if you should need to use force… by all means do so,” Hawk ordered, more than implying it was a free for all an Ferguson was to be the guest of honor. “Sir, with all due respect,” chimed in Rylan, “If I may, I would like to accompany Privates Dods and Shilling, you know… in case he gets too unruly.” The captain eyed Rylan with a coy grin, “Duly noted Specialist Kanne. He IS quite combative.” I think there were a number of other members of the platoon that also volunteered to assist, but the captain dismissed them to their quarters instead. Last to leave were the two who were attending to me. “Top marks, you two, but i’ll take care of PFC Davenport from here,” the captain ordered. “Sir, yes, sir,” both replied in unison as they left.

“Wow, that son of a b***h did a number on you didn’t he, Gem,”  the captain asked sincerely. “You must have been a hell of a threat… the b*****d was using brass knuckles on you.” I coughed out a reply, “Sure felt like it, Sir.”The captain smiled as he tried to help me to my feet, “I thought we were friends, Gem…” he smiled politely, “so drop the ‘sir’ s**t, ok? I told you to call me Hawk, remember?” I did try and smile at that but I was pretty certain it was just a grimace at this point “Whatever you say... Hawk…but this is starting to really hurt.” Standing became impossible, the pain was indescribably bad. I think the captain sensed it and very quickly but somehow gently picked me up in his arms and began running with me to the medic station.

When we arrived there was already a number of soldiers being attended to. The staff was running about in utter chaos. None of them seemed to have time for me at all. “S**t…. I was afraid of this,” the captain grumbled, “Well then point me to a private room and I’ll take care of her myself,” he barked impatiently at one of the nurses. The nurse pointed out a room a bit down the hall which is where he carried me to.

After laying me on the bed he began rooting through the cabinets for supplies. He returned shortly with a hypodermic and was loading something into it. “Please don’t stick that in me if you ain’t got a clue what it does hawk.. I don’t wanna be put down .. am not fido you know.”I glanced at the needle  with a nervous look  “Don’t worry, girl… we’re going to take care of those fleas in no time…”the captain muttered as he began to inject me. “You’re so not funny Hawk..” I still somehow winced at the needle. “Well we’re not out of the woods yet, Lassie… I have no idea what I’m doing. I may have just given you a shot for worms or something… but I saw a doctor on TV do it once so let’s keep our fingers crossed…” the captain responded with a smile. “I see Pearly gates in my future.” I deadpanned. After a moment he put my mind a bit at ease by reassuring me, “Trust me, I was an EMT before joining the service.That was just a little something for the pain.” The captain then grabbed a portable scanning x-ray and asked me to roll onto my good side. “Um… I’m going to need to remove your shirt, ok?” I raised an eyebrow in response “No dinner first? Jeez Hawk slow down a bit.” I grinned. I think the pain meds were kicking in at this point. The captain smiled shyly at that remark. He helped me remove my shirt but had me cover my chest with it out of modesty. “I just need to see if you have any internal bleeding, you silly goose,” he chuckled.  “Quack Doctor.” I muttered. He paused for a moment to chuckle, “I’ll have you know I had to eat three boxes of really s****y cereal before I finally got my doctor certificate. So… I’m not so much a ‘quack’ as you put it, but more of a … cereal killer,” he joked. I did chuckle at that, well tried to as most of it was lost to a coughing fit. I think I did glare at him for making me laugh but he seemed more worried.

As he scanned my side to check the extent of my injuries he breathed a slight sigh of relief, “Nothing too serious thank goodness. But you are going to be a pretty unhappy camper for a few weeks. Just some cracked ribs from the look of things. But then again… I am used to appendectomies for sheep dogs and house cats.”  I just stared at him over my shoulder for a moment,“ How the f**k  did you become a Captain? Seriously?” I half chuckled at my own odd response. “Well… that’s a long story,” he began, “so here I am.”  I just shook my head least the pain was down to a more tolerable level. “But in all seriousness, I guess I joined because I wanted to make a difference… you know?” the captain replied, “ Don’t get me wrong, being an EMT was super important, too, but with the world full of idiots killing each other… I just wanted to help end the fighting” He paused for a moment, “pretty weird isn’t it? I want to end the fighting so I join the army … and now I’m a commander. You want to know the worst part of my job, Rayne? Oops sorry… Gem.” he concluded with a smile. “I hate having to send great soldiers like you out into the field to fight the battles no one else can… knowing some of you might not come back. That kills me.” The captain was silent for quite a bit after that. I took a second  to think gathering my thoughts I hoped I said this right  “For what it's worth i'm glad you're the one making those kind of choices and not guys like Ferguson so don’t feel too bad ok? I’d rather  you then him anyday.” I finished with a quick smile hoping I helped. The captain smiled back, “Well thank you for that. But, there’s no place for animals like that here. That’s why Ferguson will be receiving a dishonorable discharge for his actions today. I will personally see to it,” he paused for a moment, “that is… if he makes it to his court martial. Your friend Specialist Kanne seemed pretty eager to escort Ferguson away.” “She would be my best friend if she didn’t wake me up every day a goddamn hour  early.. “ I did grouch at that a bit but I did flash a quick smile at the captain. “She… isn’t gonna get in trouble for that right?” I questioned  lightly “In trouble? For what? I know nothing” he concluded with a slightly sly smile.

Suddenly there was a terrible calamity outside the room. The door wide open, the captain went to take a look. He attempted to close the door quickly but not before I had caught a glimpse of a soldier being rolled by on a gourney. He didn’t look like he was shot… it looked as though he had been mauled… by farming equipment from the mess.  “Whats going on Hawk? That wasn’t a normal injury,” my query was loaded. As the captain turned around he adopted a completely serious tone, “Listen, PFC Davenport… what I am about to tell you, to this point is completely classified at the highest levels. Do I make myself clear?”I was a little stunned by his change so this was him being the captain it was a little fearsome “Crystal clear,Sir” I responded something told me something big was happening. “First… I cannot express to you enough that you did NOT just see that in the hallway, right?” he maintained with his tone of authority. I nodded my acceptance. “That, which you did not see, is the reason the entire med bay is filled right now.”I’ve seen weapon wounds  but that man was torn apart.. It’s something new isn’t it?” the captain sat on my bed and began to explain, “The night we first met. That fire wasn’t a normal fire. It was caused by a meteor strike. One of 17 in this region. All impacting at the exact same time, it doesn’t take an engineer to realize the odds of it being random meteor strikes seems extremely unlikely now.” I nodded thinking out loud “it was on purpose then” I stated  with conviction. “”Not just on purpose… but as an invasion…” he whispered. Was he actually saying aliens? “An invasion of what exactly?” I asked but I wasn’t so sure I was ready to accept an answer. “Well… to my knowledge we don’t have a name for their kind yet. But they are definitely not from around here,” he replied realizing how strange this must all sound, “and they sure as hell aren’t friendly… as you didn’t see. The scariest part is, intelligence doesn’t even think they’re the invaders but just sent as a weapon against us.” “..oh s**t” I muttered out. “What you saw was pretty light compared to what those things really do when they’re pissed off, “ the captain replied quietly, “Picture a really big praying mantis with claws like a lobster, a tail like a scorpion with venom that can eat through battle plate and a mouth full of teeth that looks like a meat grinder, that should paint your nightmares pretty closely to the truth.”  I was silent at that my mind was having little difficulty picturing  such a creature  “No offense sir.. But how are you even managing to cover this up?” I asked with a touch of annoyance.

“The higher ups are trying to keep this hush hush because in all honesty we have no idea how to contain THESE things… god only knows how we’re going to deal with whatever fired them at us,” the captain replied, “ Every idiot and their uncle would want to go ‘round ‘em up like coyotes er sumthin’” the captain concluded in his forced redneck drawl. I think after that I did actually pass out.

So there you have it, mom… that was the first I found out anything about the things that are tearing the world apart. But on a more positive note, that’s when I started to realize that the Captain just might be Mr. Right.  Weird of me to be thinking about something like that at a time like that, I guess., but mom… if you could have seen how concerned he was for me that day… I think you might have fallen for him too. Just kidding. The sergeant was court martialed by the way. Hawk tore all of his standing with the military to shreds and sent him packing. There was even a threat of criminal charges. But now in light of the invasion… I guess none of that really makes much of a difference, does it? Unfortunately I was hospitalized because of my ribs. On a positive note I was  only in for a few days… BUT… on the third day. Well that’s when things got.. Interesting… and not in a good way.

Hawk was back again. he had shown up every day i've been in here. I’m pretty sure he was also using it as a reason not to do paperwork, something he told me he despised as I had been getting to know him through these daily visits. I was right on my first impression of him. he is quite the character. “You know if you keep skipping paperwork they are gonna find out you’re hiding in here,” I mentioned with a smile I really didn't  mind him visiting me  if I was honest, I kind of liked the fact he did. The captain was very easy to be fond of. The captain smiled, “I’m beginning to wonder… if that would be such a bad thing.” I pulled a curious face at the remark and sit up a bit “ Care to explain that comment Sir?” I queried He paused for a moment, it appeared he was trying to choose his words carefully, “Well, it would seem … seeing as how this is the military and all…. That aside from nailing jello to a tree keeping a secret ranks pretty close in difficulty.”  I couldn’t help but chuckle.  “Hawk you’re such an odd ball.” I smiled amused. “What? I thought everybody had two… that’s not even an odd number…” he replied trying ever so hard not to laugh… but in the end failing miserably. “I need to ask you something important, Rayne,” he asked sitting on the bed, “is it a good odd or a bad odd?”  I grinned in reply, “ well odd is pretty good in my mind. So you being as odd as you are is pretty….hmm good? Maybe even great  but I won’t feed your ego.” I sniggered out. “The only reason I’m asking is because… I…” the captain began to say but suddenly gunfire erupted in the corridor   “What the hell?” I questioned about ready to leap out of bed at the violent chaos sounding outside my room. The captain threw my blanket over me and begged I didn’t move from that spot until he returned. He ran from the room in full on soldier mode. Some serious s**t was going down and it seemed to be the madness he meant to try to stop as he ran off. The situation seemed to be escalating as I heard a nurse screaming, “my god… it’s in the building!” I found myself moving despite  the captain’s wishes. Even injured  I could do something to help as I padded to my room door a little gingerly and tried to open the door to get nothing but a locked handle in return “That  son of a b***h... “ I growled out. I should have known he would lock the door. Turning around I spy my closet. Getting dressed would be a pain. The pants I could manage, the top not so much. Opening the closet I retrieved my clothes  I managed to struggle into my pants the belt I removed I had a sly idea for it   buttoning the pants up and getting them past my hips was a little trickier and did hurt a little but I wasn’t running around with just a gown I slipped on my boots  I couldn’t really tie them  tight but with a little bending of my legs managed to get them  to at least sit comfortably on my feet.  After a few minutes of  planning I had rigged up my belt to the door handle twisting it around so with a bit a luck and a few grunts of pain cause  this did hurt to do she did manage to snap the lock to the door … thank goodness for  military issue  belts the sturdy kind.

As I crept out into the corridor I immediately realized stealth was not important. The scene was total chaos. One of the attack creatures had gotten inside the medic station. It killed indiscriminately. Men,  women... Everyone. Cut to ribbons.People ran in utter terror in every direction. And that meant one thing... No one even knew where it had gone. A clattering of claws caught my attention. I looked to the sound to find it was far more horrible than even Hawk had described.

It shrugged off military rounds like flies, destroying everything it's path. How could anything stop it? Suddenly it turned it's attention to me, and came charging. I turned and ran for the first door I could find. I could hear it rampaging behind me... I threw the door inward and dove through. Wouldn't you know it... My impeccable skill with directions landed me square in a supply room, no more than twenty square feet... With no other exits. "Son of a..." I began to mutter but the creature slamming against the door cut me short…

"wait your damn turn!" I yelled at the creature as it crashed against the door perhaps not my best move but it just came out. The beast was breaking in ramming into body and head against the door, as I tried to look for some sort of weapon anything to hold it at bay. "d****t hawks gonna kill me if this thing doesn't" I muttered as I topped box after box searching for something to help me.

.Suddenly the creature smashed its way throughout the heavy wooden door splintering it. It roared as it tried to force it's way in. Apparently the creature wasn't completely aware of its surrounding it's vision dulled as a thick shard of wood found it's mark stabbing into it's wretched face.

What I can only assume was its blood gushed to the floor. Only angering the beast. The blood was silver in color and behaved... Oddly... Like mercury.

"mercury...chemistry class don't fail me" as I  redoubled myself efforts I had a plan I think and having certain death clawing and gnashing its teeth at you was a very powerful way to get you motivated into searching for chemicals  if I  weren’t already  my hand actually paused on a carton of baby formula selenium the ingredient to the weapon I was hurrying to make  it was all a theory. if it worked yay my face didn't get nommed if it didn't… I was pretty sure hawk would find a way to bring her back to listen to the lecture on obey orders.

I remembered that selenium is used to reduce the toxicity of mercury... Hopefully the very least would find him getting sick as f**k. But how would I deliver it? The creatures vicious head snapped left and right wildly. I barely had time... It wouldn't be long until the b*****d was free. "You're so hungry, here... Eat up you hideous b***h," I screamed defiantly as I jammed a full can of the baby formula into its hellish mouth. The creature's jaws shredded the can like paper. In desperation I shoved in two more for good measure. "Don't forget to take two a day... You stinky f**k." I nearly retched at its foul odor. Like death and vomit... And s**t... And did I mention vomit and death?

The creature suddenly stopped moving, its body began to convulse as it pulled back from the doorway and stumbled into the corridor. It's form apparently in agony began to writhe like a poisoned spider. Curling its legs into itself it crumbled to the floor twitching for a moment and then it seemed to expire.

A sudden geyser of putrid foam exploded out of the creature's mouth like a can of shaving cream, except it managed to actually smell even worse than the actual creature... I know because it hit me squarely like a fire extinguisher. Immediately I began to throw up violently, I had reached my "holy s**t gross" maximum for the day... Several soldiers were approaching guns trained on the crumpled beast as I continued to dry heave...

Modesty be damned, I threw my hospital gown to the floor in horror, thankful for my underwear. I honestly never thought I'd get to say something like that…

It was actually quite liberating.

And a little distracting as well... Mostly for the soldiers between looking at the dead alien who smells to high heavens and threw up or the female soldier in fatigue pants and a bra I know which one I'd rather watch.

Cat calls and whistles erupted from the soldiers, it was all in good fun, but I managed to reply, "f**k off you guys," before dry heaving again, "There's plenty more where that came from... Sexy, right?"

"Now someone get me a goddamn shirt!!"

A nurse did help me clean up a bit and I did get a shirt. The guys  now complaining about a drop in morale. I took it in my stride after having that thing chase me down their jeering was barely registered beyond flipping the louder men the bird.

One of the officials did show up and I managed to tell them it was an educated guess that selenium worked on the creatures, but it only seemed to relieve a small amount of stress. I tried to ask what was wrong but I wasn't to worry about matters above my pay grade, Holding my tongue had never been so hard. I did make my way back to my room and gathered up the rest of my things. I was discharging myself. If I was well enough to fight off that...Thing, then the nurses could use the bed. Besides adrenalin was a good painkiller itself. I was worried though seeing all the bodies that had been cut down, I hoped Hawk wasn't amongst them, and tried to subtly inquire where he was. I didn’t want to raise a flag  that I knew him beyond him being my captain, but with all the damage the creature had done, It had me slightly panicking. He did seem like he had something important to say before the start of all this. I pressed on to the general meeting area and took my place as they finally started to reveal more information to everyone else including news of Hawk who had been taken, not by the weapons but by their masters a more lizard like humanoid. As far as they knew he was alive upon capture, but they had no way to know if these creatures even kept prisoners of war. I felt like my heart started to crumble I didn’t even realise how close I was to the captain till I was hearing he could be dead, that he was taken. I wanted to break down and cry but it wouldn’t help, probably land me in psych eval. Wasn’t someone going to go after him?

I waited for news of a rescue attempt but there wasn't any such announcement. They weren't seriously going to leave him to die… No I couldn't standby and watch I silently made my way to the officer and asked to see the highest ranking officer that could afford to see. me I think he appreciated that I asked for one who could see me.

As it happens it was the general himself, he did treat me like a shiny new weapon to be studied. I was informed that I was getting promoted to the rank of specialist. Seems my discovery was gaining me a lot of favours. I seemed to be everyone's best pal. It was a little bewildering receiving such attention especially from the higher officials. I suppose I should be happy, but with hawk currently missing it seemed a bit like a hollow victory. I got called away after that. They wanted my help in developing a new round for the guns with selenium inside. The dose high enough to sicken humans, they weren't taking any chances. it was probably overkill, but seeing that you had to be lucky to get a shot at an organic part under the armour every shot counted. There was news that some more of the alien weapon creatures had been defeated. In other news the big a******s actually are weapons even got a catchy a*s name the K.R.I.T.H It’s an acronym a terrorised  private made up. They Kill, Raid, Infiltrate ,Terrorize  and Hunt. Cheerful ain’t it.

The real invasion force  has been here for awhile, they seem to be able to cloak like properly cloak straight out of a sci fi,  and capturing higher officials like hawk. I was doing what I could to help, offering advice, and helping develop new ways to battle the things. But we were still lucky to get past the armour. People were studying it I was  sent to  basically be a morale boost  as I went on a few scout missions my luck still holding out as I now have a bit of an infamous title of Weapon Killer. Kinda badass if I do say myself, but Gem is now my official call sign.I don't think I get called rayne anymore. It’s either Gem or specialist. Kanne says I’ll get used to it seems a bit of an odd thing to get used to.

It was a pretty hectic couple of days. Me and Kanne, (Rylan remember ?) had been in high demand since she managed to kill one of the bugs as well. There had been more disappearances, always higher officials. It’s freaking out our intelligence but for good reason  The lizards don’t even give off heat, so I did give them the bright idea to make it colder. True, troops and the officers complained, but it did lessen the rate of kidnappings. Seems these lizards guys can't stand the cold same as our own. Ain’t you happy you let me have a pet lizard now mom? See, now it’s justified, but it was a pretty damn cool pet. Rest in peace little Chomp. Sorry that he bit your finger. Least he wasn't venomous, but these lizard guys ain’t either. Just lots of nasty foreign bugs. A tissue wouldn't help. Mom, trust me. It’s been a rush trying to help everyone. On the plus side I did get my ribs fixed sorta. And the rescue mission for Hawk was simply in the works though.  I didn’t know how I’d play a part in it.

I'd been a part of Research and reconnaissance team for a little while now. Seeing as I was one of the few people to actually tangle with the weapons and live. I did try and ask about a rescue mission but it was still not to be announced. I would have pushed but it seems they had bigger fish to fry. I suppose I saw their point, no false hope... but it was a b***h just to sit around and wait. Still the research and recon teams proved helpful, as we made a few advances to our weaponry and our armour we weren’t getting hit quite as hard as we had. more people were coming back alive after tangoing with the Krith.

I still called them Bug B******s. Suddenly there was an alarm and I was I was told to gear up and meet at the flight deck, there was a mission to be debriefed about. I found my gear despite my infamous lack of direction causing me to just barely be on time. I was loaded up with basic scout gear, though I managed to argue I was a better shot with a pistol instead ot the standard assault rifles. Having a few kills under my belt helped a little, especially when said bullets are coated in selenium. As chief science officer I got creative and had managed to create my own type of ammo. I was sharing of course. Those of us on the recon team carried the rounds on every mission. Thank god for chemistry class those years ago.

The general was actually waiting for us, and announced we were on a rescue mission we were going to rescue some captives. To say I had my fingers crossed that Hawk would be among them was the understatement of the year. I guess when I say ‘we’ it’s not we as in The science team but an infiltration team that was to be dropped with us. Our official capacity was to help and assist in any way we could, since we knew the invaders and their bases better than anyone thus giving them a better chance of pulling this off. It was better than nothing at this rate.

Thankfully though I didn't need to worry about my ribs so much, they had a way to treat them. Filling in the cracks so to speak, but I couldn't really afford to take too hard a hit or i'd be back to this situation. Another three days laying around didn't sound appealing, Testing the treatment I could bend and run. Even if I was a bit stiff while moving but I was happier. We did pass on some of our selenium rounds onto the infiltrators, they were happy to take something that would actually hurt the bug b******s. I wholeheartedly agreed.

Yeah so my Mr. Right got captured and I got chased by bugzilla. But I did survive mum, I am luckier than most of those poor people in the hospital. It happened pretty quick and I got nightmares for those three days. Nightmares of it chasing me. I had one while I was getting a light nap as we were flown off to an area of interest, The infiltration squad following behind us in a second helicopter. I don’t know if I should be telling all of this to you mom, but things got bad really quickly down there. I might not get to write to you again, so I just wanna say I’m sorry for all the s**t I put you through when growing up you didn't deserve it. For what it's worth, I think you would have liked Hawk. I do... heh, yeah I do like him enough to try and be a big a*s hero to rescue him. love you mom.. Always.

It was pretty plain something huge was about to go down, with The General addressing us and all. A team of twelve was assembled and we were airlifted to a remote mountain range just south of our base camp. The hostiles, and I can’t imagine anything more hostile than those freaking bugs, were guarding the entrance to a cave in the mountains. Luckily when we arrived it was pretty quiet only one KIRTH was patrolling the entrance. I guess it was was too much to hope that there was only one. But it was go time, time to find out if the selenium round were really going to do the trick.

Picker, the call sign for PFC Paulie Holmes a bonafide marksman sniper from the special forces division, was set up for the kill shot. WE collectively held our breath as he lined up his shot. He had one shell chambered and a second ready to go right away. The first selenium round was intended to penetrate the bugs armored hide while the second was the intended kill shot… he just had to shoot basically a charging rhino in the exactly the same spot twice before it managed to get to us. No problem. Froma thousand yards Picker let the first shot fly. Striking the KIRTH directly between the eyes, a perfect shot. As expected the best immediately began charging us. As we all readied our weapons just in case, he fired the second shot and felled the beast within not a hundred yards from first strike. Damn he’s a good shot.

The KRITH went into convulsions just like the first that I had killed. It had expired long before we made our way to it. Sergeant Ross, the commander of the team gave the behemoth a quick shot of liquid nitrogen from his specially designed pack, and stomped the creature's head in for good measure. The nitrogen rifle was another idea I had come up with in order to deal with the lizards, but who was I to say no to him if he wanted a bit of fun of his own.

The infantry was first to enter the cave as ordered. Standard 2 by 2 formation flanking the tunnel we stealthily made our way through the caves. I can’t help but admit the night vision goggles we had to wear in the utter darkness made me feel a bit claustrophobic for some reason, I guess it was the limited field of view. It just served to up the tension of the whole affair. Ross and his troops moved in perfect sync as we proceeded, it was easy to see these men had served together for some time and knew how to work together.

We had made it into the tunnels approximately a thousand meters when a gesture from  Ross stopped everyone dead in their tracks. Something had spooked him and that made the science division very nervous. Sure we had done plenty of testing on these things in the lab, but as far as I knew I was the only member of the science team to have actually have dealt with these b******s while they were alive. I scanned the room and barely even saw it move. A Kirth had dropped on us from the ceiling, a new tactic that made these b******s all the more terrifying. It hacked PFC Luke Williams into pieces before anyone could even get a clear shot at it. Everyone scrambled for some sort of cover not knowing if anywhere was safe at all. PFC Gray Havok, I’m not sure if that was even his real name or a really cool call sign to be honest, got the first hit on it and even in the chaos of this thing stalking us in the dark, Picker got the kill shot again. Have I mentioned how glad I am that Picker is on our side?

Once the creature was down Sergeant Ross had everyone sound off to make sure everyone was okay. Everything seemed fine until there was no reply from PFC/Science officer Devon O’Shaunessy. It actually took some searching from the team to even find poor Devon.

“Goddamn lizards,” Ross growled, “the b******s distract us with the Kirth and then stab us in the back when we’re looking the other way,” he finished as Medical officer Sarah Fields pronounced him dead. It was kind of touching to see Sarah was comforted by PFC Jon Jacobs. She was pretty shaken up by the whole thing. We were science officers, not soldiers. But Jon and Sarah had been high school sweethearts even before they joined the Army together. So their relationship was no secret. I kind of held on to the romantic notion that maybe someday that would be me and Hawk, but that was a longshot at best. I had no idea if the man was even alive, much less if he had any sort of feelings towards me at all. But a girl can hope, right?

But sadly, all romantic notions had to be cast aside for the present situation was incredibly dangerous at best. We’d just lost two really good men and we hadn’t seen even a trace of the prisoners. Havok tried to say it was a shot from Luke that had actually set Picker up for the kill shot, claiming he had actually missed the mark. It was a really sweet gesture I thought, but everyone knew better. Even Ross knew, but at Havok’s insistence, noted the first shot as Luke’s for the posthumous record giving PFC William’s sacrifice and family a medal of commendation to remember him by. I’m pretty sure Ross might have made a few notes about Devon as well. Ross played the cool b*****d role of Sergeant like a pro, but I really believe it hurt him immensely to lose soldiers under his command. I never made mention of it to him there, but I had hoped to get to know him better once this was all over.

Silence wasn’t a problem for us as we travelled deeper into the cave system. It wasn’t long until we actually encountered a cave lined with a bioluminescent fungi that illuminated the high arching grotto quite beautifully. The area showed no trace of the KRITH at all. A sensor sweep of the cave indicated no trace of the lizards either. They were only getting readings of 10 life forms. Ross concluded this might be a good spot for a breather before we forged on into the darkened caves beyond. Rocky outcrops seemingly everywhere even afforded some rudimentary seating. We crossed the grotto to our next tunnel and took our breather there. We were fairly certain there was no thing behind us so we needed only post guards at the cave entrance.

PFC Tim Brooks, our communications specialist, unshouldered his pack. “I gotta piss like a racehorse,” he crudely announced. “Well once you drain your miniature pony, put it back in your pants and let’s move on, Mr. Brooks,” Ross quipped in return setting the rest of us to quite a welcome laugh. Tim grumbled something under his breath as he stepped behind a low outcrop off to the right. Suddenly a crumbling sound erupted from behind the outcrop and Tim screamed out in horror. Everyone rushed to find that the floor of the cave had given way under Tim nd and he had fallen into a vertical shaft that seemed to go on forever, his voice trailing off that we could no longer even hear him.

Ross suddenly shouldered his Nitrogen rifle, “Mother fuckers…. They set a trap… and we just sprang it.” Everyone shouldered their fire arms and prepared for a fight and it came fast and furious. The slithery sound of the lizard’s approach was almost deafening in the echoes of this grotto. Sections of the glowing lichens even gave way from the walls and ceilings as the lizard featured humanoids raced in from every direction. Ross screamed for everyone to get down as he was the first to open fire spraying his liquid nitrogen in a full circle around our assembled group. The freezing wall froze a number of the enemies in place as it hit them directly, others severely slowed suffered the freezing effects created by the wall of cold. From a safer distance the remaining lizard men opened fire with energy weapons. PFC Jon Jacobs threw his own body onto Sarah to protect her and was viciously riddled with enemy fire. Sarah unaware of Jon having been hit clung to him screaming in terror, until the realization of his death struck her. The realization that his last act was saving her life with his own…

Havok immediately ran to her aid. Rather than pulling Jon off of her he kept Sarah’s shield in place while he returned fire on the Lizardmen who killed Jon. Fortunately the physiology of the Lizardmen was nowhere near as tough as the KIRTH. They appeared to be very nearly as frail as we were. Ss long as they didn’t get their damn cloaking activated, we might actually have a chance.

Sergeant Ross had stopped firing only to allow the gun to charge for another barrage of liquid nitrogen. Just as he was about to leave cover to fire, a shot from one of the Lizards took his left leg off just below the knee. Ross fell to the ground in agony as Medical Officer Richard Cain ran to his side to offer assistance. Ross screamed in protest, ordering us all to get the hell out of there, he’d hold them at bay as long as he could.

“With all due respect, Sergeant, I will NOT leave my commanding officer to die,” Cain replied, “Either WE leave or we die it’s really that simple. It’s not like you can kick my a*s now… sir” Sergeant Ross almost managed to smile in those last moments. “You dick…” Sergeant Ross replied taking the hand of his friend. Cain turned to us screaming, “You heard the Sergeant, get the f**k out of here… NOW!” Havok pulled Sarah from under Jon’s body and began pulling her from the cave, Sarah still reaching back and crying out Jon’s name, as if willing him to come back and run with her. Picker, PFC Bob Hopewell, and PFC Haven Lukas basically surrounded me and forced me into the cave, laying cover fire as we retreated into the darkness of the caves. Picker was first to bark an order that stunned me, “Soldiers, form up on Davenport and Fields, they’re the brains of this outfit. Not to mention Specialist Davenport is now our commanding officer… We’ll keep her safe, Sarge. Godspeed, sir. Godspeed, Mr. Cain.”

Somewhere in the grotto an incredible explosion erupted violently, forcing a torrential blast of incredibly cold wind through the cave like a cyclone of Ice. Ross had detonated his Nitrogen packs. Apparently all at once. And then an eerie silence broken only by the distant sound of the howling wind created by the blast rushing out the tunnels fading until nothing but silence remained.

Now it was only six of us who remained. The cold had actually given six of us minor frostbite, but that was nothing compared to the losses we suffered that terrible day. Picker and I decided we HAD to go back. If there was any hope of saving our sergeant or medical officer, we had to try. The rest remained behind. The four huddled together for warmth from the cold and within for the losses we all shared. The grotto was still bone chillingly cold so Picker and I knew we only had a few moments to search for survivors. Hoping against hope that they would be alive. What we found was … worse.

In what appeared to have been the sergeants last heroic act, it appeared he tried to shield Medical officer Richard Cain from the brunt of the blast. The sergeant had been obliterated but what remained of Cain was somehow still alive groaning in agony, sitll holding the sergeant’s hand in his own. Picker was about to call for Sarah when I had to make the awful decision to stop him from doing so. “He can’t possibly survive, Paulie, he’s freezing from the inside out,” I whispered, “there’s nothing we can do.” Paulie tried so desperately to console Cain who was all too aware of the situation, “please… end this. I stayed with the sergeant that we may die together… and yet here I am,” he whispered in agony, “please don't let the Sarge die alone…I want to go with him... he’s the only person I had left to care about... to actually love... please just let me go with him.” Paulie, tears rolling down his face which froze before they could drop, pulled his sidearm “It seems there is something I can do, Specialist Davenport,” Paulie sobbed, “Godspeed Mr. Cain.” He put the gun to Cain's head and pulled the trigger.

I honestly don’t know if I even heard the shot…

I didn’t know how long we could stay in the cavern but I had to tap Paulie’s shoulder. Me and Paulie moved out of the cavern, the cold had let up some.  I couldn't say if it was a good thing, but I was now the commanding officer. I swore to the sargent i’d get his men out alive, I wouldn’t lose another soul. “I’m sorry, Paulie,. We can’t linger here, and we still have an objective. One I intend to fulfill. The lives lost stop now. I will not quit. Not after losing this much, we have to press on, and I intend to see this mission through to the end… Let’s move  out.” I ordered as they shuffled around the soldiers forming up on my lead. Picker watching from the back,  Havok staying at sarah’s side. I knew she wasn’t really with us but it wasn’t safe to try and talk her round.  Haven had donned Tim’s coms unit, and our demo expert PFC Bob ‘Hope’ Hopwell was  scanning ahead for hostiles. I took up the sergeant's position, my pistol out. I think we were all a fury of emotions, I wasn’t holding together much better, but it was now my job to somehow lead this group, who had been through hell, back to safety. I hoped the sergeant was looking out for us , because  I had a feeling it wasn’t  going to stay quiet  not for long.

I wasn’t positive I heard a sound but I turned  even as I felt the sharp slice of a dagger cutting my side. My pistol was already twisted around to hit my assailant.  My gun registered twice the lizard b******s brains were mush before his body had even completed his attack  I ended up hitting the floor, the sound of me connecting alerting the rest of the group. “Rayne! S**t..” Paulie was the first to my side. I grit my teeth and  forced a smile, “Always wanted to lose weight fast,” I gasped  as I felt his hand press into my side “Havok, get Fields!” Surprising Sarah came running to my side, Havok, Hopwell and Haven watching for more of the sneaky asses as sarah got to work on me. Let’s just say staples without pain killers stings… a lot.

“Well well, what do you know,” Havok announced as he checked the body of the lizard man I had just killed. “This prick has a lot of dried blood already on him. I’d bet my commision this is the mother f****r that killed Devon.” I couldn’t argue the logic. “Congrats, boss, You just avenged O'Shaughnessy,” Haven chimed in, “Nice move as your first act as commanding officer.”

Fields got me patched up but I had to refuse the painkillers, id be of no use to anyone if my head was dulled by them. “ Lets.. just move out ..Havok you’re on point. Paulie, rear guard.  Haven Eyes on Sarah.  Hopwell, if it’s hostile blow it up.” I barked out orders  and everyone took their assignments.  I have to admit I was a little surprised there wasn't a little hesitation. I guess I must have sounded like I knew what I was doing.

We did eventually get out of the rather chilled cavern and into a more open area. Everyone was on alert but it was Hopewell who noticed voices first as he indicated in front of us  I moved  and tapped Havok to follow we as we doubled up counting down from three before we both peaked around, weapons drawn only to find prisoners. the men  seemed pretty glad to see us. I called the rest of the team to come through as Haven and Hopewell  broke the locks to the cages. Fields was double checking on me since I moved too much, “i can't promise I won't move, Fields,” I groaned. The medic smiled briefly it was only for a moment but it seemed to have gotten her focus back. “I would expect no less from you, sir,” Sarah replied.  I chuckled a little at that until Havok came to me with an important bit of information. Havok introduced one of the prisoners as Lieutenant David Strong, The lieutenant approached me with a most distressed look on his face, “Ma’am there were more of us who were taken. These things seem to keep us around for a while and then move us to somewhere else.” “How many,” I asked almost terrified to hear the count. “By my count, 8 were taken a week ago, and just yesterday six more. Now I don’t know what they do with the prisoners they take away… but they never come back,” David concluded with an air of frightened uncertainty. I shut my eyes tight and took a deep breath  I needed to check it out  but with so few men already it was a risk. “ Havok, Fields with me. Paulie, Haven, Hopwell, take these guys out to the surface and radio back up…. And don’t come  back unless it’s with back up.” I ordered. I knew Paulie wouldn’t like it, as I saw him about to speak. “Paulie  its an order not a request.” I spoke firmly I almost didn’t even recognize the voice as my own. “Sir, yes, sir,” Paulie replied in customary fashion. “Grab your gear people. move out.” some of the prisoners took up arms.  it made me feel a little  better that they had a good chance of getting out fine. “Hey, this is your bus, toots,” Havok replied with a grin, “I’m just along for the ride.” I chuckled, and then cleared my throat to sound authoritative, ”That’s Specialist Toots, to you soldier.” Havok smiled as he saluted me and shouldered on into the caves.

As I took Havok and Fields further into the base actively searching out both friends and foes alike, Luckily we didn’t run into any more lizards.

Havok indicated more sounds ahead,  we once again doubled up. This time I had sarah  follow behind us closely as we peered into the the new hallway. We immediately spotted more people who looked a little worse than the previous group. I sent Havok to scout around but only the edges as I took to breaking the locked cells open. Sarah proving to be a helpful hand as she helped open other doors. I asked who were the worst cases and who could run in a pinch. I set about organising the prisoners from stable to needing Sarah’s help. I was a bit glad when Havok returned with an all clear signal. I had havok open more cells opening  them all there was about 20 people here in various states of health, civilians and military personnel. They were very happy to see sarah and I suppose me to a lesser extent. Particularly one cell in particular. A man laying on his side barely acknowledged our arrival. I entered the cage in an attempt to rouse the man to his feet. “Come on, time to go, “ I announced with an air of authority. The man turned and cast a rather unpleasant expression at me.

“YOU,” former drill sergeant Nathaniel Ferguson sneered, “Of all the miserable b*****s that had to arrive to save us … it had to be you… didn’t it?” he growled staggering to his feet. “And you had to get caught… how unfortunate for you. You don’t like the rescue you’re more than welcome to chance it on your own.” I growled back. His attitude rattled me. I had lost fellow soldiers to get here and I had still not found Hawk  finding him  was pushing all my buttons. “Havok … watch this one, especially if Sarah treats him.” I muttered lowly to him as I set about trying to get everyone else  ready to move. “Sir, yes, sir, “ Havok replied as he trained his gun on Ferguson while Sarah attended to the myriad bruises marking his head and face..

I sighed, “Where the Hell are you Hawk?”i asked myself as I  double checked cells  seeing if I missed anything. it wasn’t like I could shout his name, not in a hostile zone. Havok and Sarah were handling the masses. The pair worked well together. Perhaps I could  move a little deeper into the caves. They were smart and with that many prisoners back up could easily find them. Deciding to risk it a little I raised my gun and activated the tactical light  as I moved a little deeper past the corridor and out of sight of my soldiers  I slowly  crept further in listening for something anything that might be a sign of more survivors until I heard it.. a soft low  whistle whoever it was wasn’t carrying a tune  well but it gave me a goal. I wasn’t too far away from the others yet, I could chance it. following the sound I came to another locked cell and used my light to peer inside  “Anyone there?” I gently asked  the Tactical light  highlighting a figure “Am Specialist Davenport  am here to help.”

“Specialist Davenport?” replied a groggy voice from inside the shadowy cage, “Jesus… how long was I in here? What are you a specialist of? You look far too pretty to be a soldier…” grinned with a slightly amused huff “ well the camo sort of proves it, Sir,” I replied, “How the hell did you become a Captain?” I asked again because it really was a mystery, that and I really couldn’t help it . Hawk jumped from his cot to the side of the cage facing Rayne, “Gem… holy s**t… I can’t believe it’s you. Sorry about the whistling, I’m a Hawk not a songbird.” I shook my head and opened the cell, it was a better use of time than giggling but I still was grinning as the lock caved under the pressure and the door swung  wide.”your rescue awaits, sir” Hawk grabbed me by my waist and held me close, “I told you call me Hawk.” I swallowed down a lump as I held back tears “Wasn’t  so sure I would  get to Call you anything again..” I quietly admitted “So you waste time calling me sir?” Hawk asked eyeing me curiously, “That’s not very efficient.” I smirked in reply “Neither is getting caught. I think you owe me dinner Hawk.” I informed him with a wicked smile.”Yeah… but I’m a s****y cook and with a name like Hawk you’d think I could at least read a recipe… but…” he began, but then stopped mid sentence, “Oh.. wait… maybe we could go to one of them there fancy rest-o-rants. That be okay with you, ma’am?” that ridiculous redneck accent returning.

“You really are an oddball Hawk” I smiled brightly and before I lost my nerve tugged him a little closer and pressed my lips to his sweetly. I did feel a slightly surprise go through him as I pulled away  “well... you were technically in distress.. So.. yeah.. “ I couldn’t quite meet his   eyes after that. Am pretty sure I totally forgot I was in a hostile base, and now had just stolen a kiss off of my commanding officer... Well done Gem. “ I coughed and  tried to  play it off  “um.. Heat of the moment thing.. Sorry sir.. Won’t happen again” I rambled out as I backed out of his arms and turned to leave the cell. Hawk grabbed my arm and gently spun me back into his arms, “God I hope not…” he whispered kissing me far more passionately than I had  kissed him. After a breathless moment he whispered again, “now don’t let it not happen again.” he finished with a wink. I was pretty sure I was pink right now and probably dazed as heck. I think I just kind of dumbly nodded a reply. “Rayne I…” Hawk began to whisper when suddenly there arose a calamity from the outer cells. “S**t ferguson,” I didn’t  waste time explaining I just grabbed  Hawks hand and ran straight into chaos. “Damn it… again… really?” Hawk muttered. “Focus Hawk..” I reminded as I slid into the crowd discovering the source of the disaster was indeed Ferguson.

The lunatic had somehow gotten a hold of Sarah’s side arm and was holding her hostage. “Ferguson, “ Hawk barked, “What the hell is wrong with you? We’re knee deep in s**t already and you decide to pull this?” I glanced at havok and got a no go signal he didn't have a clear shot to free sarah I had to make a choice Ferguson was focused on me and hawk  the Madman  actually waved the gun a bit “ all you a******s get freaking lost alright?” he drawled  staggering Sarah  wincing at the harsh grip. I took a deep breath and made a choice I hoped I wouldn’t regret  “ Havok get them out of here… i’ll make sure Sarah is safe but complete the objective.” Havok  glanced at me his gun still aimed on ferguson “ Specialist  you sure about this?” he asked warily  he was worried, we all were. “I’ll be fine Havok  get these people out.” I replied calmly Hawk Squeezing my hand letting me know he was staying put Havok growled  but obeyed the order “All right people double time let's move” he cast a worried gaze at Sarah and me then he was gone helping the rest of the prisoners get of this godforsaken base ferguson felt like gloating “Yeah ain't so big and bad are you b***h you're weak I would have snapped your neck if your Fancy a*s Captain hadn't saved  you. You should have never joined Davenport. Such a waste... I bet you would have made a fine W***e. Hawk took a step forward at that but I kept my arm on him, keeping him still “ You got what you wanted Ferguson am right here under your control so let the girl go she hasn’t got a thing to do with this.” I tried to get the mad man to show some sort of reason but it seemed to just  bounce off of him  “ No smart moves Davenport drop the gun you two hawk chuck them” he demanded and both me and Hawk reluctantly complied  skidding out weapons across the floor  ferguson continued to rant at us “She’s probably is just as Outspoken and as Stubborn as you won’t come to heel.“ Sarah cried out his grip must have tightened. “Let her go… I won’t ask twice.” Hawk demanded, gaining his attention as I tried to think of what I could do.

Till I noticed something shimmer behind Ferguson. The effect like a heat wave making me freeze, as the man jolted and cried out letting go of Sarah who ran into my arms, seeing  the lizard  tear through Ferguson’s body, his corpse falling to the floor as the lizard was shimmering again about to cloak  I dragged and pushed us three into a another cell as the cloaked beast  gnawed and scratched at the bars it couldn’t get in..but we couldn’t get out.

Well mum I didn’t think id go out like this, and it kind of really sucks. Sarah shouldn’t be here. Ferguson grabbed her. Havok’s not gonna like that  I broke a promise. Poor girl she just wanted to help people... Guess Jon will be disappointed in me to. I didn’t protect his Sweetheart I did give it my best. Wonder what the others would say... I doubt it would be better luck next time... I do wish I wasn’t taking Hawk with me either. I want him to live even if I was still going out this way. If it saved them it would be worth it. Sooner or later, this lizard thing is gonna get in. Or we will starve first. Either option is painful.

I don’t think my luck’s gonna hold out this time, mum, but hey least i’ll get to see you... maybe you could meet hawk  if we all end up in the same place. I know you said try to live a long happy life. I did try, honestly Mom. I guess I messed up. Heh I messed up pretty badly. Hey mom?... if I see you…  will you give me a hug.. I think i’ll need it. I guess see you soon…

I’m pretty scared right now… Damn this Sucks.  I said I wouldn’t cry… Gotta go..

Love Gem.

I felt two hands hold my own one was Sarah’s god she was just as scared as I was and the other was Hawk’s he seemed pretty content maybe the Lizard was chewing at the bars it wouldn’t be long now least I was going out with great company  even though I was terrified  I didn’t close my eyes I want to see my death coming I wouldn’t give in even to the last second i’d fight  the cell door buckled and it threw it away  it was savouring this now its rabid energy more focused as it stalked towards us I still somehow had fight in me enough to walk forward my eyes  locked on its bright yellow slitted iris as it snarled at me I whispered “Hello Beastie”

It was kinda curious it hadn’t attacked till I heard a voice say “You know pretty brave of you to stand so close to one of those things Gem.” Rylan Kanne announced with a triumphant grin as I i looked over to see a device in her hand I knew very well “Then again you did create this little gizmo so of course you know how good it works just makes them stand there like statues cant move cant snarl .. hey Hedgings shoot this thing will you?” Two shots rang out and the lizard was dropped like rocks  “Kanne… you have Excellent timing”

I breathed a sigh of relief and sagged Hawk actually catching me a little and helping me out of the cell  sarah smiled and  took this chance to retrieve  out weapons and to check my stitches I had pulled some out luckily Hawk was there to distract me with his Odd speeches Havok actually scooped me and Sarah into a hug  am not sure Hawk was too okay with that since Havok seemed to drop the hug pretty quick and we all made out way back to the surface.

I collected the tags of the men we lost.  tims tags were actually in his backpack that haven had picked up kinda lucky I guess. I did manage to find the sergeants tags and mr cain’s I made sure they were together  as a sort of memento to them.

I was escorted back to the med bay my cut was recleaned, and I could finally accept painkillers. Hawk was given a bed beside me... I think he pulled some strings, there but I wasn’t gonna call him on it. All I knew was I fell asleep holding his hand and no one said a word about it.

I awakened to a slight poking about my ribs. I didn't even open my eyes, I just sort of shooed away the nuisance with a groan. “Wakey wakey… Waffles and bakey,” Hawk whispered, “sorry eggs weird me out. I feel like they're staring at me… Like I'm guilty of something.” I opened my eye with a slight glare. “You better actually have  Waffles to eat or I’m finding something to hit you… “ I replied  with a grouchy tone  I am still not a morning person. “Hmm… I suppose I could arrange that,” Hawk replied thoughtfully, “there must be something you could hit me with around here somewhere.” He paused for a moment, “the waffles here suck… I wouldn't eat them. They’re like… Cardboard simulations of s****y waffles…. I made them myself.” I  wasn’t quite sure how I  should respond to that, or even if I should, “Hawk… what  do you want?” I settled on a direct approach  as I did actually sit up a little as I looked at him.

The big man suddenly climbed into my bed with me, gently nudging me aside so he could get comfortable, lying on his side to face me. “How are you feeling,” he smiled…. God how could anyone be mad at a man with a smile like that. I am pretty sure I squeaked  not my most proudest moment but it had caught me off guard. “P..pretty good..” I managed to respond with only a little difficulty “What about you?... you were gone for a while, ” I asked hesitating a bit I didn't know what had actually happened to him I didn't want to remind him of something if I could help it.  “Oh… Don't worry about me, “ Hawk grumbled, “i was in that cage, separated from everyone else for a reason. I think I annoyed them.” I shot the strange strange wonderful man a confused look, “annoyed?” “oh yeah,” he replied, “apparently they weren't fond of my singing.” Which of course got another completely bewildered look from me. “Yeah…” he muttered gently sweeping hair from my face, “apparently they aren't fond of love songs like…” And he started singing to me… Right there… And I haven't got the heart to tell him but it wasn't very good.

‘How do I love thee… Let me count the dead lizard a******s…

How do I love thee… I hope they all die…

I really hate lizards… I really don't like these lizard f***s

I wish that I had some pie…”

I admit  the lyrics were something that I could probably get behind,  though I doubt it  was gonna make any radio waves  but I decided to indulge myself a little and softly sang the right lyrics back  luckily I could carry a tune  but I was no pop singer  I was simply putting my feelings for the wonderfully odd man into the song but I doubt anyone but him heard me singing.

“How do I love thee … let me count the ways

How do I love thee… mark the days

Count each one … write it in red

Leave a rose… and send it soon.

My love letter. To you..”

“Hey... that’s not fair,” Hawk replied quietly, his eyes fixated on mine, “you sing like an angel.”

I blushed biting my lip I wasn't sure I could respond to that with anything other than a stutter  I shook my head in a negative and tried to pull the covers over me. “It wasn’t that good..” I muttered the fabric muffling my voice a little. Hawk gently pulled the covers down from my face, “what I mean was you sing like an angel and you sure looked like one when you got me out of that godforsaken hell hole… I can’t measure up to that.” I smiled  giggling  “...you are taller than me..””Rayne… I’ve been meaning to tell you something,” Hawk replied with that smile of his, “I just hope I can finally tell you without the whole world going nuts again.”

I gave him a curious look tilting my head a little “I think the world's safe for now. we do have time..” I said encouraging him to continue.

He drew his face closer to mine. He started to talk and then paused and looked around and then moved in closer to whisper in my ear… “I’m not wearing any pants.” I flushed pure red stuttering, “w… what!?” I squeaked out “I’m not… honest,” he continued in a matter of fact tone, then whispering in my ear, “neither are you.” It hadn’t occurred to me until that point he was absolutely correct. “Does that make it awkward for me to tell you I think I’m falling for you,” he whispered again, “I think I have been from the first time we met. And I don’t just mean because that beam snuck up on me.” I was having a slight, mini battle of what to feel.

Overjoyed  he felt the same way or  completely embarrassed because he was in my bed with both of us wearing only a hospital gown. “Hawk.. you’re so odd..and why the heck did you get in my bed wearing a gown?!|” I sort of whisper shouted I really didn’t want to draw attention to us. “Um, my tux was at the cleaners? This is all they had that would fit me,” Hawk replied, “They did cut me a deal on the shoes to match.”i groaned I wanted to bury myself in the covers but that would reveal hawk in my bed. Narrowing my eye I pulled him closer and kissed him just enough to stop his rambling  “Hawk.. just go to sleep..” I asked with a yawn and actually cuddled in to the man I wasn’t sure for how long we would be able to be like this so I took advantage of it. even if it was slightly still embarrassing. “No,” came his singular, serious reply.

“...No..?” I  questioned raising  my head a little wary at the more serious tone. “No,” he replied again almost getting up from the bed, “I won’t go to sleep. And I’ll tell you why. I have lived a crazy life. Totally crazy. I’ve seen things you can’t even imagine… most I wouldn’t want you to. But the one thing I could never, ever, find… was someone like you.” He paused for a moment and snuggled back into the bed with me again, “If you think I’m going to sleep when I have you now, and the world isn’t going to hell, you’re quite wrong. “ His tone softened as he wrapped his arms around me resting his head on my shoulder, “If you want to sleep, please… go right ahead. I promise you, I will never ever let anything happen to you. I’ll be here to protect you, forever.” I softly smiled yup Quite the Character. “You know… that’s quite a promise to make. I hear forever is a long time..” I gently teased  my eyes  drifting closed as I was lulled into comfort  by rhythmic beat of his heart. I was asleep before I even noticed. But as I drifted off to sleep… I could have sworn I heard Hawk whisper, “love you Gem, Sweet Dreams.” And dream I did.

Well mom,

I’m sorry it’s been awhile since I last wrote, but things have been a little crazy. I’ve been promoted to Captain. Yes, like Hawk . I really wish you could have met him. I’m sorry I don’t have more time today… I wish I did. I wish you could be with me today more than I ever have. I wish I knew if you were proud of me. I’d like to think you are. I’ve even learned how to follow directions, but it’s the time I have to worry about, seeing as how I have a wedding to get to. Heh… who’d have thought… Captains Hawthorn l. Davidson and Rayne Davenport-Davidson… It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Bye for now mom, I’ll write again soon… Can’t be late

Love, ALWAYS, Gem

Author's Note

Comments wanted :) (i do not own the image)