16
Delta
The train rumbled on as Allisha and the rest of Cameron’s group filed into an enclosed train car. They tied Salleedin up then sat him in the back. Allisha pulled her mp3 and resumed Cameron’s log on his first visit to Delta.
The camera came back to life, the view was lying sideways when it suddenly leapt off the table and was placed on Cameron’s head.
His voice filled the speakers, “Ah, my back.”
Peter came into view, “Sarge wants you at the wall with the rest of us.”
“Let’s move then,,” he sighed.
They ran out of the M.A.S.H. and through the city to the wall, “All the way up.” Peter said climbing up the ladder. Cameron followed and as soon as Peter made it to the top of the wall, he pushed his backside to the guard wall, “Keep your head down, comrade!”
As Cameron came to the top his camera caught a glimpse of the amount of sheer insanity going on down below the wall before he took cover. The rebels fired their primative weapons toward the Jacobites on the wall. The insurgents, extremely well hidden in the urban enviroment took very few losses unlike the Jacobs that littered the wall.
Cameron looked at Peter, “What the heck are we doing up here?! We can’t hit anything!”
“Were up here for when the insurgents mass attack. The mass attack is really a cover for the saboteurs that come up and plant explosives on the wall. Lately, they’ve been successful,” Peter answered.
“Then why haven’t they blow the wall?” Cameron wanted to know.
Someone down the wall shouted, “Mass attack!”
“Because they don’t have enough explosives,” Peter hesitated before going on, “yet.”
Allisha heard the cry of rebels converging on the wall. Cameron peered over the wall to see the insurgents with and without helmets running to the city, driven by hate and madness. Allisha heard machine guns start up and cut into the swarm, but this did little damage. The mass made it to the wall and she knew that the saboteurs were fast at work with their explosives.
“Now comrade, fire over the wall,” Peter leaned over the wall and fired down vertically.
Cameron followed as did the Jacobs. As he pulled the trigger he watched the rebels fall. After he reloaded the rebel mass reteated. Cameron sighed and pulled back behind the wall.
Sarge appeared, “Find Blare, she should be down the wall somewhere.”
“I know where she is, comrade,” Peter stated.
“Peter, I need you to stay here,” Sarge commanded.
“Yes, sir.”
Cameron crawled away. He noticed the men of the Jacobs eating and drinking with stress filled faces. Allisha thought that the men had an excuse to look so stressful, they were fighting against immeasurable odds. But how much longer could they hold out?
Cameron came to a section of wall that had more dead bodies than any other. He looked over the bodies and he noticed Blare, alive. She lay in a pile of shells. Her sniper barrel was sitting in a crack and she was peering through the scope.
“Stay down, you’re in sniper country now,” she told him.
“How many out there?” he asked.
“Two,” she stated.
“Two killed all these men?”
“No, six did, but two is all that’s-hold on…” Kapow! “only one left now.”
Cameron looked over the wall then yanked his head back down. A sniper round hit the wall just below his head was.
“Wait, do that again,” Blare commanded.
“What!?” Cameron gave her a look of shock.
“I didn’t see the muzzle flash, so I don’t know where he is.”
“I’m not risking my head just so you can see the flash!”
“Just do it, you’ll be fine,” Blare assured him.
Cameron looked around then said, “I’ve got a safer idea.” He picked up a helmet of a Jacobite and put it on the stock of an AK-47. He raised the helmet over the wall. Pow! Ping! The sniper round hit the helmet.
Kapow! “Got ’em!” Blare exclaimed as she pulled the bolt back to eject the empty shell and shoved it forward to close it.
Cameron eyed the hole in the helmet, “This-this could have been me!”
“Sorry.”
“That’s all? ’Sorry’? I could have died.”
Blare sat back on her knees, “Aw, my shoulders sore.” Cameron sighed and climbed down the ladder followed by Blare, “Sarge wanted to see me right?”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m here,” Cameron said.
“I thought so.”
They made it back to Sarge’s position just as he was coming down the ladder. “Blare.”
“Sarge, what is it?” she asked.
“Sparx, he wants to see you.”
Blare asked, “How is he?”
When Sarge didn’t reply Blare’s expression saddened. Cameron said, “Come on I’ll take you there.” The two moved in silence, “He’ll, he’ll pull through Blare, he’s strong.” No answer came. “He can make it.”
They walked into the M.A.S.H. and a nurse asked Blare, “Are you Blare?”
“Yes, where is my brother, Sparx?”
“This way.” The nurse led them to a room where Sparx was, then left.
“Sparx!” Blare exclaimed.
“Wha- Bl -Blare?” Sparx opened his eyes and tiredly sat up.
Cameron saw his chest covered with a white sheet but didn’t have the courage to peer under it, “How you doing?” Cameron tried to sound positive despite Sparx’s condition.
“My chest is still a mess but as long as this life giving machine here,” Sparx patted a large metal rectangle behind him, “keeps working, I’ll recover.”
“So you’ll make it?” Blare questioned.
“Yeah sis.” He looked to Cameron, “How are things at the wall?”
“Mmm, good, Let’s just hope the rebels don’t plant anymore bombs on the wall.”
“I know, I heard about the saboteurs.”
Cameron nodded and looked out the window to the wall thinking about the explosives. A section of the wall exploded instantly, Kaboom!
Blare looked at Cameron and gasped, “Great.” Cameron whispered.
Rebels swarmed through the hole. The nurse came back into Sparx’s room, “We have to move!”
Blare stated forcefully, “But we can’t or he will die!”
“Then we will have to leave him.”
Blare slapped the nurse, “Never!” Blare fell on to her brother’s bed and began to sob.
The nurse ran off and Cameron rebuked Blare for her careless actions, “Blare, What are you thinking?”
“Blare go,” Sparx insisted.
“I can’t leave you,” she hugged him.
Someone from outside shouted, “Look out!”
A sharp whistle was heard by Allisha, then an explosion rocked the camera, “They moved their artillery.” Cameron stated.
“Blare, please go.”
Allisha heard an even shraper whistle, Kaboom! Cameron dropped to the floor. He got off the ground and noticed the window was shattered.
Blare was still on the bed as Sparx coughed, “B-Blare, g-go.” Cameron looked at the metal rectangle behind Sparx’s bed. There was a piece of metal shrapnel imbedded in it, “I’m not going to make it.”
“You will, you will,” Blare insisted.
“Blare…” Cameron spoke and motioned to the piece of metal.
She sobbed and got up. Sparx grabbed her wrist, “Blare, I,” he coughed. “I love you.”
“So do I.” she replied.
“I’ll say hi to mom for you,” Sparx said.
“I’ll do the same for you with dad,” Blare replied.
“Cameron, come ’ere.”
Cameron walked over to him, “Yeah man, what?”
“Cam-Cameron,” he closed his eyes and breathed out.
“Tell me.”
“Take, take care of Blare for me. I know you can handle her,” he looked at Cameron and grabbed his arm tight, “Go…” Sparx’s voice trailed off. He released and fell back to his bed.
Allisha knew that Sparx was gone.
“Sparx!?” Blare pushed Cameron out of the way, “Sparx? No, come back.”
Another wistling was heard. “Blare,” Cameron said loudly.
“No!”
Cameron grabbed Blare and ran out of the M.A.S.H. It was destroyed a second later. “It’s those rebel’s fault!” she yelled, “I’ll make them pay.”
Allisha’s mp3 player fell off her lap as the train rumbled. She turned it off then put it in her pocket.
“That didn’t sound good,” Peter stated. The train rumbled again more violently and Peter asked, “Ah, should we like check that out?”
“Yeah, we…” the train let out a horrid shriek as Cameron spoke.
The car that they were in smashed into the one on front of them, carrying the civilians, and ran on top of it. The car with Cameron’s group in it, now on top of the other, came to a halt.
Peter ran up the incline to get out of the car, “All those people, we got to save them!”
Crash! Two Crightents on fire burst through the windows next to the exit door.
Blare yelled, “Hit the floor!” As soon as Peter got to the floor, Blare and Cameron opened fire. The flaming Crightents fell to the floor.
“That was close,” Allisha stated.
“Let’s get out of here before more show up!” Cameron commanded.
Allisha thought about the people in the car under them, “What about those people, are we just going to leave them?”
“Alisha, saving the people wasn’t part of the mission. Our mission was to find out who kidnapped all of them and we found that out. Saving the people was just going to be icing on the cake. Now if you want to live, move!”
Crash! The rest of the windows shattered as more Crightents flooded in, some on fire, some not. “Open fire!” Cameron’s face was full with determination to stay alive as he shouted these words.
The transport car was filled with gunfire as the Crightnts screamed when they were ripped apart. Allisha looked behind her to see Salleedin kicking at Crightents. She ran back and untied him, and Salleedin whipped out his knife and dispatched a scaley white creature before it could harm her. “Now we are even.”
“We have to get out of here!” Blare shouted.
“Through the windows!” Cameron commanded.
Allisha and Peter jumped through the windows followed by Cameron. Blare was covering their escape, but as she leapt through the window, a Crightent caught her by the legs.
“Where is Blare?” questioned Peter.
“She must still be on the train!” Cameron exclaimed running back for her.
“I’ll go get her!” Salleedin sprinted ahead faster. He came to the window where Blare was grasping it for dear life before being pulled back into the hoard of white death. “I’m here to help.” he grabbed her. There was a great struggle between the rouge rebel and the Crightent. Cameron tried to get a bead on the Crightent with his Bull-pup but couldn’t for fear of hitting Salleedin or Blare. He pulled his more accurate weapon, the Sig, free and used it on the white demon.
Salleedin pulled Blare out of the car and dragged her a bit, “Let me go!” she yelled.
“I’m just trying to help.” Salleedin let go and stepped away from her.
“I don’t need your help.” she swat at him.
At that instant the car she was just in bust into flames. Cameron gasped and ran over to Salleedin, “If it weren’t for you, she would have died. For that, you have my thanks.”
“What,” Blare got up off the ground, “you are giving that insurgent thanks?!”
“He’s not an insurgent anymore, not since his last action,” Cameron said, “I thought you of all people would be grateful for that.”
“But he killed our G.G.s,” Blare pointed out.
“No, I don’t fight G.G.s,” Salleedin replied.
Blare drew Cameron’s Sig and pointed it at Salleedin, “Shut up, unless you want to get your head blown off!”
Allisha disarmed Blare by surprise, “I can’t let you do that.”
“Hey!” Cameron shouted, “We have a mission to finish.”
“Yes, let’s stay focused,” Peter agreed.
Blare sneered but kept quiet.
Allisha handed Cameron his pistol back as Cameron asked Salleedin, “How long till the other end of the tracks?”
“Five miles,” he replied.
“Can’t we just head back the way we came?” asked Peter.
“Five miles that way too,” Salleedin answered.
Cameron sighed, “How long till next loading station?”
“We are lucky because we are almost there.”