The Fire Beneath Us

Part 1

Grid
March 22, 2022, 6:25 PM
New Mexico

Pyro: "Was that the last one?" He said looking around.

Grid: "Ja, Hök is currently doing a sweep of the area. Call it in, tell General Williams that we have secured the entire bunker."

Hök: "Way ahead of you. The entire place is clear."

Grid: "Copy that. Resealing the hatch above." I say into the radio.

I do my thing and abort the launch of any weapons. I then pull a lever down slowly and with force. The opening above slowly closes. Once fully shut a loud mechanical click can be heard signaling that it is securely closed.

Hex: "Are we clear?"

Grid: "Ja, where's Yurei?"

Hex: " Both him and Hök made sure the surrounding area outside the bunker was clear of enemy activity."

Pyro: "Where were these змеи going to send the missiles?"

Grid: "Not sure, seems we interrupted them before they could put any coordinates in the system." I say while looking over the many screens infront of me.

Hex: "Seems Anarchy are losing their touch."

Pyro: "I will not complain. Makes our job easier and less stressful."

Grid: "Agreed."

Hex: "I'm still going to search the bodies. Could be some info on one of them."

I begin to shut off all systems linked to the missiles. One by one each screen turns black and ever LED goes out. I then search the body of the one I killed. I run my hands through all of his pockets but find nothing. I leave the body and walk back to my team.

Pyro: "Nothing, nothing of value."

Grid: "That's fine let's get back to the surface and wait for the US to take over."

We walk out of the vault and through the lobby, now turned graveyard. Pools of blood merge together along with many bullet casings litter the ground. We walk up the concrete steps and into the cold winds of the desert. I look to the dunes ahead and see a blinking white light. It blinks three times, then stops.

Hök and Yurei then emerge from the same dune and begin to walk in our direction. The rest of us just take a seat on whatever there is and rest.

Yurei: "General said to let the US take over. For now we stay put."

Hex: "How long are we gonna be here?"

Hök: "Just another ten. Evac should be here at the same time as US's military."

Pyro: "What do we do until then."

Hök: "Not sure but I'm thirsty. Do you have water Wass?"

She reaches into her bag and pulls out a metal canteen and tosses it to Svein. I take off my helmet and pull down my mask. I look up to the sky and find constellations, just like when I was a kid.

Pyro: "Emil, what are you doing?" He said with curiosity.

Grid: "Star gazing. Used to watch the stars all the time as a kid."

Yurei: "You never said you were into stars." He said confused.

Grid: "No one ever asked."

Hex: "Why are you so fascinated by stars?"

Grid: "Not sure."

Hök: "When I was a kid I loved to sketch."

Yurei: "What would you sketch?"

Hök: "Birds. I remember going to one spot in particular. I would sit on a log and look up in the trees. I would wait patiently for something to fly by then I would sketch it as fast as I could."

He was about to speak again, but was cut off by the sound of multiple helicopter blades in the distance. The noise grew louder until the helicopters came into view. They then landed and out came many soldiers. Me and my team stood up and watched one of the soldiers approach.

Captain: "I'm Captain Morgan and I will be taking over. May I ask who's in charge."

Grid: "I'm. The entire surrounding area has been cleared as well as inside. Many friendly casualties, but all enemy activity has been stopped."

Captain: "Understood. Thank you for the help."

Grid: "Keine ursache."

Just then another helicopter lands with our emblem painted on the side. We all walk to the helicopter and get on. I sit in the seat next to the pilot and give him a thumbs up. He gives me a nod then we take off back home.

Praslin, Africa
March 23, 2022 6:01 AM

I'm in a basement of some sort. I can hear drops of water hit the floor. I sit up and look around. I'm in a tank top and boxers. I continue to look around and see medicine everywhere. Shelves of pills and liquids in tiny vials. The only sort of light is coming from an opening above me. Bright sun light shines through. I get and stand on the bed I lay on. I peak my head to look but then I wake up.

Hex: "Emil, we are here."

I look around and see that we had finally landed. But I'm not in the co pilot seat. I rub my eyes and get off. I walk along side Wass from the helipad to our head quarters.

Grid: "How did I get in the back of the heli?"

Hex: "You switched with Svein when you got tired. Do must have really needed the sleep if you don't remember."

Grid: "I guess so. I will take a nap if I'm still tired, but for now let's get the end brief out of the way."

She all of a sudden stops and looks at the beach.

Grid: "Are you okay?"

Hex: "Igen, just like to take in the view every now and again."

Grid: "I have never seen you do this."

Hex: "I come out here on my own. Us humans take things like this for granted."

Grid: "In what way?"

Hex: "Do you know how much trash people throw in the ocean? It's wild to think about."

Grid: "Never put much though into it."

Hex: "Enough of that. Let's go and get this over with. I didn't get much sleep on the heli so I need a nap."

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