A Dash of Scarlet In Paradise

A NEW DAY IN THE NEW WORLD

VII

Marcus felt chilling drops of water fall onto his face again, but more followed. He looked upwards once more, curious how the weather changed on Nirvana. Nirvana was very comparable with the tropical places on Earth, a cloud formed upon the pillars, which were the Crescennial Trees. The greyness took away the rich colors of the starry sky. Though Vector didn't care to look up.

"Take shelter there, it's gonna pour soon..."

A small dark cave stood in the path of where Vector's finger was lead. Vines and algae gathered everywhere around the opening. Marcus stowed away his machine gun in some sort of belt that went diagonally across his torso. Vector's mechanical jacket made an odd creaking sound as he was crouching down.

"My battery appears to be damaged, I think it's leaking."

"How much juice you got left?"

"Um...22 percent..."

"Damn. How long do you think it'll last?"

They continued deeper into the cave. The air got stuffier and a foul stench existed.

"I'd say until tomorrow morning if I shut it down now."

A hum and the metal skeleton lost power. Vector appeared as a well-built man, after all Gunners were tough bruisers, vigorous warriors. He made his feet touch the pebbles that were spread across the bottom of the tiny pond. His socks were wet.

"How about ammo? We good there?"

Vector used his elbow to flick a little switch on the shoulder pad to activate his heads-up display. From the digits on the top, he could get that the number of rounds that remained were scarce.

"2 rockets left and 34 rounds on the wrist machine gun, and it'll like take me a few cheap moments to waste them all."

Typical. Knew it would take a trigger-happy chap to get in the Gunner group.

Inside, the exhausted survivors were all mangled up. All their bones were twisted along with the muscles to create the puppet-like figure they were that minute. Marcus collapsed first, but Vector, having been inside the Gunner suit for most of the time, decided to keep upright.

Something snapped, it was like Marcus lost all will to fight, all the will to live.

Come on, I can't be that garbage.

His determination was admirable. Though his head was convincing him that his actions were utterly pointless, the man could feel the world betting on him.

They started at the misty drapes of rain, thrashing down and forming blooming flowers on impact, then killing them off the instant they presented their petals.

The world they were in was such a beautiful paradise for those who had the opportunity to uncover it truly. For the duo, it only meant the new face of war, nothing more than a wasteland, a battlefield. Discard all the times they could be taking to comprehend the artsy of nature.

Marcus wedged his rifle between rows of rocks to support his sluggish body. Neither bothered to raise a conversation, especially the dying sergeant. He felt his limbs get shakier. His lungs would be crushed under anvils every time he took a deep breath. All was lost.

"Rest my friend, get some sleep. I'll take the first shift."

"Alright...uh stay sharp Marcus..."

Marcus chipped his last magazine into his M4A1 and crouched at the entrance of the cave, his eyes watching the ivies and vines crawling up the miniature cliff-edge.

"Damn...the Gunner is so low on power."

Marcus could hear Vector's voice, but so clouded. He could only mutter back in the same volume that came to his ears.

"We need some other type of transportation for sure."

"What's you're idea?"

Marcus rubbed his forehead.

"Got none, not yet. But that suit is going to help get one."

"Okay then...well goodnight..."

It was likely that Marcus began forming dreams before Vector. But time didn't wait for him. Without really realizing it, it was already dawn. Marcus was awakened by some buzzing noise nearby.

Yet there it was, another one of Nirvana's marvelous handiworks. Beholding transparent wings and long stick-like legs dangling from its abdomen, the creature look awfully similar to an insect, a huge one in fact. The wings continuously flapped to produce a blur of glass. And then there were those segments of scales that changed color every now and then. First they were aqua, and then they dissolved into a hue of light emerald.

Probably due to the reflection of light, thought Marcus, thinking how 'clever' he was.

It fiddled to adjust itself to stare right into Marcus' eyes.

The buzzing...I've heard it before...

Now he was a solid statue. In the bug's eyes, he was probably just another wild animal. Marcus' hair was standing on edge; perhaps he was getting way too close to it.

While the creature was about to nudge further to make contact with the bridge of Marcus' nose, a thump echoed in the walls of the air. Less than a fraction of a second later, the bug was lying in a pool of grotesque, greasy, green blood.

"Son of a bitch...Hey! You could've moved farther away from it! Geez what if it's poisonous!" apparently Vector was now wide awake and he had laid down his rifle, which still had some steam trailing out from the end of the barrel.

"We can't drone off now, Marcus."

"Wait...what did you just say?"

"What did I say?"

"I've got an idea...what's the time?"

"Uh...hang on...0658."

"Perfect."