Soldier

Chapter 23: Jace

Sitting next to Evangeline is more fulfilling then what I thought it would be. She's warm... and is leaning against me. It feels... It feels nice. It is something that is new to me. She gives me a sort of, comfort. I can't really explain it, but it just makes me feel better than I am. My senses even feel more down to earth... The crazy ideals I seem to have or had or whatever is still there, but I feel more... how to put it? Sane?

I held onto my pistol tightly. Only five shots left. Damn this situation seems hopeless. I suddenly remembered that kid I.....killed. There's no way I could have survived that fall. Even if I somehow did, the cold water would have taken him in minutes. Why did I do that, why did I push him off? Why didn't I just knock him out or restrain him? Damn these conflicting feelings of guilt! That kid was the first one to attack me, it was in self-defense!

Yet, something about this is off. Why did that student's eyes look so.... distorted, off track? It doesn't make sense. He didn't even have a reason to attack me, so why?

I gave myself a splitting headache that tore inside my mind with these thoughts. Better get my mind off it...

I focused on the situation at hand. More and more explosions fired off. The sirens are still announcing loudly. Gunfire and the screams of my fellow 'soldiers' being flung off the deck one by one by the flying robots echoed everywhere I turned. What a strange thought. While I am stuck here in this little circle of sandbags with someone who he I have grown close to. Imminent doom all around us. While all hell had broken lose. Huh, this situation really is hopeless. I poked my head above the little sandbag wall to see people running to turn off fires around the ship, while others protected them, whether by acting as human shields or just plain shooting the robots down out of their own pure luck. Poor bastards. They never saw it coming. Well, hell, I didn't see it coming either...

I watched as one of the metallic birds picked up a student and noticed something odd. It didn't drop him off the ship. A few of the bird-things look like they are carrying off some students instead of throwing them overboard. What are they---

The intercoms suddenly clicked on and screamed,

"All infantry and special ops abandon ship!!! I repeat, abandon ship! Find the nearest Lander and board it. All crew and ship officials remain onboard and help with the defense of the ship. All front line soldiers report to the Landers, immediately!!"

The voice started to repeat itself, but something happened (probably one of the bird things ramming right into it) that made the intercom only let out a staticky strait buzz that won't stop.

But, I heard his orders. Some orders that I am going to actually follow. Hell, I doubts many others had heard the intercoms anyway. Just one problem stands in my way though. Where the hell are the landers? Wouldn't that have been nice freaking information to have told us, wouldn't it? No use complaining now though, I'm just going to have to find them myself.

I stood from the circ and grabbed Evangeline's arm. I pulled her with me as I ran towards the nearest door I saw. Almost there...

Ruble crashed over the doorway, making it impossible to get in within seconds of him reaching it. Unless I could somehow move pound after pound of steel and a lot of other metals by hand, while chaos chases me.

What then?

The side...! It will probably be best to go along one of the side rails of the ship, a long narrow walkway on each side of the vessel. Each with a set of doors lined on it to get inside; which should be open. Had better be... At least it's not here if anything.

I ran through a few explosions and over the remains of many, many things. Some that I would not like to think about; like the blood, debris, and corpses. All the way until they reached the narrow strait, they appeared to be wherever we ran, until we made our way to the side of the ship, to see a few other students load onto a boat that was suspended on the side of the rails by two metal arms that came out of the side of the ship. Although it doesn't look like there isn't that many of them, maybe five.

Once the last person boarded the boat, the arms lowered it into the water below. I ran with Evangeline to the railing where I saw the boat being lowered in the water, just as it sped off into the black of night. This part of the ship is actually pretty damn dark, unusual...

I looked down to see another, new boat, being suspended into the air, then locking itself against the railing, just waiting for someone to board it. I hesitated for a moment as I heard someone's voice behind us. I turned around to see Alex running through a door with... that girl. A few others followed them, including Willis. I stepped out of the way as Alex fired a few shots into the air from a small rifle he had in his hands. A loud crash followed it a few seconds later. Determination is in his eyes that I haven't seen before.

Alex pulled his partner with him onto the boat. The others followed right behind him, and jumped onto the boat as soon as they could.

Evangeline and I didn't get on, and for a moment I locked eyes with Alex. We stared at each other for a moment that seemed to take longer than it did. For some reason, it feels like our friendship is over, before the moment had passed, the boat being lowered into the water.

I waited for the next boat to come up. I looked to the doors to see no one else coming. Maybe more will come, maybe none will.

Another loud explosion filled the air. The metal arms that lifted the boat made a grinding sound and stopped halfway. Probably that of gears or other pieces moving inside as the sound suddenly stopped. The boat halted at the rim of the railing. Ready to go.

I urged Evangeline to get on first. I took a glimpse back to the door, before climbed over the railing and onto the boat and stepped inside. It is made out of a hard metal that clanked when I stepped inside. Evangeline looked at me weirdly as I sat down and said,

"Where are we going...? What had...?!"

I looked at her and calmly answered her,

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

I let out a small chuckle, as I stared at her confused. She couldn't have been so oblivious of everything, could she? Jokingly I asked her,

"Don't you remember our little adventure?"

Evangeline looked at me funny, then cracked a smile, and laughed a little. Softly, under her breath, probably so Jace wouldn't hear what she said,

"You know Jace... I've had a crush on you forever..."

I cracked a smile. Did she actually say that? Does she care about me so much, she ignored everything around us? It's hard to tell, but, it's... it's just weird! I can't think at all with her around, she just makes me feel so... different. How Alex made me feel when he helped me no matter what had happened, when he was always there for him.

Evangeline shivered. I gritted my teeth together and pulled her close to me. Which surprised her as much as it did me. The boat jerked up as it hit the water, and knocked us against the metal hull of the little boat. I remembered something. Something that I feel is special.

In a whisper, I told her,

"Did you like that first kiss?"

Which really hit something, as Evangeline whispered back meekly,

"Y-Yea. Can we... do that again?" shyly and innocent. How innocent... I put my hand on her cheek and pulled her face close to mine. She really is cold... smiling happily or... something.

"I know what will keep you warm..."

Her cheeks turned red as I kissed her passionately. Something's still not right here... oh, hell with it!