by B. E. Wilson
“No!” is all I could say, over and over. “No!”
“Stand down, Marine!” Motown ordered me.
“No!”
Before I knew what I was doing, I sprang to my feet and leapt onto the roof of the ship. With my rifle in my left hand and my ax in the other, I started running toward the butchers, firing off rounds and clipping them in their backs.
“He’s off the reservation!” Hunter screamed.
“Fuck!” Motown said. “Follow him!”
None of the shots that I fired were kill shots. I wanted those bastards to taste my blade. I jumped into the higher level and trounced them, taking their heads off and dismembering their limbs.
When they others caught up to me, I was frantically searching the bodies for my brothers, I was going mad, and the team knew it.
“Stand down, Butler. That’s an order!” Motown said, trying to stop me. I tossed him away in anger.
“Sir, we’ve got company!” Bob shrieked.
Thousands and thousands of aliens were coming out from underneath the ship, their teeth chattering as gray foam dripped from their lips. The thunderous chatter filled the cavern with an eerie echo.
“Firing line!” Motown ordered. “Light ’em up!”
The team stood side by side, releasing hell on the front chargers. The more kills they stacked up, the more aliens appeared behind them, climbing over their fallen to take their place.
“We’re not going to have enough ammo!” Hunter shouted.
“No!” I said, leaping over the team into the tide of oncoming aliens. “Die, you bastards!”
I don’t recall what happened after that, but I do recall what Bob told me as they carted me off back down that tunnel. I had removed my helmet; she said I looked possessed.
My face had turned a light gray with blue veins bulging and pulsating across my face. My eyes had gone completely black and cold. I looked lost, she said.
Delta team had finally shown up and provided additional fire support from their elevated position in the tunnel.
“Drew, can you hear me?” Bob asked.
I tipped my head. “Yes,” I whispered.
“I don’t know what happened to you, but that wasn’t you,” she cried. I could see that she was scared.
She continued on, trying to tell me what I had just done. I strained to listen as I faded in and out.
Apparently both teams ran out of rounds but I kept fighting. It was hand-to-hand combat; I killed anything that came close. My movements were swift and accurate. My rage allowed me to overpower the enemy.
As she kept talking in my ear, I finally faded off to sleep. But my dreams, my nightmares, soon reminded me of what I had become and what I did.
The rage burned so deep in my soul that visions of my onslaught ran like a movie reel. I could see my feet landing on the flat black surface as 10 or more aliens flew through the air at me. I sliced each in half with one swing of my ax as the remnants of their bodies landed around me. Shots whizzed by my head, killing the next wave as I advanced.
The dream played on in my head. There was no spectrum, just shades and shadows of blue. The scene was so vivid it was like I was still fighting.
I could see them clawing at me, rushing me, but it was like I knew their moves before they did. With my weapon empty, I discarded it and used my helmet to bash them, my ax to slice them. My movements were swift and true. I remembered how a gang of aliens had attacked from my blind side. I knew they were there; I slaughtered them unmercifully, without even looking at them.
What have I become?
20
I cracked my eyes open as the light from the window broke in. I could make out somebody pulling back the curtains.
“Where am I?” I could barely speak.
“Oh, you’re finally awake,” I heard Bob’s voice say.
Clearing my throat, I attempted to speak again. “Where am I?”
I felt her pounce on the bed, her soft lips showering my forehead with kisses.
“What’s this for?” I slurred.
“That you’re alive,” she said, continuing to plant kisses down my face.
“Why wouldn’t,” I stopped to clear my throat. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
She started to remind me of what happened. I didn’t want to tell her I knew. I was ashamed. I didn’t interrupt her, just letting her finish. My shame would ultimately turn to hate, a hate for myself from not knowing what I was capable of doing.
“Who—who’s gone?” I asked, my voice cracking.
“I shouldn’t have told you. It’s too soon. I’m sorry.”
“No, go on,” I urged her.
“Drew, we lost Hunter and Boom. There was nothing you or any of us could have done different. Don’t beat yourself up over it,” she pleaded.
As she continued to talk, my mind drifted away. Not only did had we lost Hunter and Boom, but all of Delta team had perished. I blamed myself. Maybe if I could have kept myself under control, I could have saved them.
“Hey,” she nudged me.
“Yeah?” I responded, tears welling up in my eyes.
“Drew, you can’t do this to yourself. It’s the past now. Let it go.”
It wasn’t the past for me. The nightmares were so vivid.
“I know. I’ll do what I can,” I assured her.
She placed a sweet soft kiss on my lips, leaving me to find some comfort in her smile as she leaned back and stared into my eyes. The woman that I had once feared was showing her heart.
“Where are we?” I asked her.
“Oh you don’t know, do you?” she laughed. “Hang on, I’ve got a visitor for you.”
I watched as she sprang from the bed and ran to the door, watching as it closed behind her.
What’s she doing? I thought.
The door opened slightly. I could hear the patter of feet on the tile floor coming at the bed.
“Guess who?” she said sticking her head through the door.
“Who?” I echoed.
But before I could say another word, Rags jumped up on the bed and started licking my face. He smelled familiar. Apparently Buckley had kept up my habit of feeding him Twinkies.
“Hey boy.” I scratched behind his ears, his long tongue gliding up my cheek, causing me to giggle. The tears I had been holding back started to flow freely as Rags attempted to catch everyone.
“Is it all right to come in?” I heard a familiar voice speak from behind the door.
“Yes, sir, it is,” I answered.
Major Harold McClain walked through the door sideways, “How the hell are you?” he smiled.
“I’m okay, sir. It’s good to see you.”
“Welcome back to Tiger Mountain, son,” he said.
“Thank you, sir, but I…”
“No son, no ‘but’s. You’re not home, you’re just visiting. We’ll get you healed up and back out there soon enough.”
A smile washed over my face.
“Drew?” Bob said.
“Yes.”
“The major here will be joining the team,” she told me.
“That’s right, I’ll be kicking your ass on a daily basis, pup!”
I laughed and attempted to sit up, although I was still lightheaded.
“Take it easy.” He offered to help, grabbing my forearm.
“Whoa…”
“Are you okay?” Bob asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m just a little dizzy.”
“Well, you’ve been asleep for three weeks, so I’d imagine you are,” the major informed me.
“So what’s next, sir?” I asked.
“I’ll be blunt.” His facial expression turned stern. “After you went berserk, Command wanted to ground you. Motown and I talked them out of it. You’re the reason we won back San Diego. Dallas didn’t have the same success, and we lost over 5,000 troops.”
“Shit.” I felt sick in the pit of my stomach.
“We don’t know what happened to you, but what we do know is
that we need you to do it again,” the major said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “If you’re capable.”
I didn’t know if I wanted it. What had happened scared the hell out of me. I didn’t answer.
“They haven’t killed all their prisoners. They work them till they can’t work no more. Then they harvest them. That’s what your team walked in on. They use their ships as underground cities, each with its own queen, and you killed one of those queens.”
“Drew we’re flying back to Colorado tonight. If you’re able to travel we’d like you to come with us,” Bob said.
“Then what?” I asked. “What if I lose control again? What if I hurt one of you?”
“You won’t. I know it in my heart,” she said.
I thought about it for a minute and said, “Okay, I’ll go.”
“That’s my devil dog!” the major said. “But, this—whatever you call it—between you two, this love affair, or…hell, I don’t know, it needs to stay off the radar.”
“Understood,” Bob said.
“What the hell?” I blushed.
“Command does not need to know about it, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Aye-aye sir,” I smiled at him. “What’s our next mission?” I asked.
“Take back Dallas and the rest of them. We need to wipe these alien bastards off our planet.”
“You up for it, Doomsday?” Bob asked.
“Hell yeah! Oorah!”
But although my words said it, my mind was elsewhere. What has this fucking Suit done to me?
To be continued