Survivor

Chapter 13

Shepard
Was it wrong that I was upset about this? Being left in the empty apartment alone while Garrus worked?
I couldn't deny that I was jealous, and I found myself pacing several times, only to be hit by pain from leftover wounds and be forced to sit down.
He had made good use of the time before he had to start his work at C-Sec- well, good use of his time in his opinion. He had made things easier to find and work with, like the thermostat had been connected to my Omni-Tool and programmed to speak to me and take voice commands. Actually, my whole Omni-Tool was now programmed for full voice commands.
He also laid out a rug path that, upon kneeling over the seam between rugs, was found to be glued together as to not cause trips, apparently. Garrus promised that setup was only temporary until he could get a custom made one for the whole apartment that would be easy and "basically seamless".
I had to admit that it helped guide me a lot, despite my denials of needing the help.
I stood up again and had begun pacing while I opened my Omni-Tool. "Are the lights off?"
"No, ma'am. They were turned on 17 minutes ago by username Archangel."
I gritted my teeth and frowned. "Turn the lights back off. If username Archangel sends the lights on command, send him a message instead."
"Command confirmed. What would you like the message to say?"
"'Last I checked blind people don't need lights. It's dark with or without them and lights just waste money when there's no normal people around.' End of message."
"Message confirmed. Is that all?"
"Yes."
I felt the Omni-Tool deactivate and let my hand fall to my side.
It had been four days since Garrus had started working and I had been deflecting his babysitting attempts for the duration. The first two days were spent breaking him of his use of the security cameras. He got an earful both days and gave up the third with a discouraged tone in his assent.
This was his new attempt at babysitting, though it wasn't horrible, I wanted to have at least a small sense of independence while he was gone.
I winced at a pain in my calf and limped over to the couch to lay down. This whole routine was driving me stir-crazy. And while Garrus had taken me out before he started work, it was met by a swarm of people who had managed to find out where we lived.
  Garrus was not the least bit pleased as it was and I had to clench my jaw at the sensory overload and discomfort at not knowing who was there and where they were exactly. The only comfort was Garrus when he had moved behind me, protecting my six as usual.
  Needless to say, it was hell getting back into the apartment after we ate. The day after, Garrus had reassured me that C-Sec had been keeping them off us, which was a relief. I could only imagine what they were saying about me, though.
  I shook my head and sat up, resting my head in my hands. Overthinking things was a new habit, it seemed.
  Suddenly, the door slid open and I lifted my head, confused. I listened closely but I couldn't hear anything, thanks to the rugs leading through the apartment.
  "Garrus?"
  My heart pounded in my chest, louder and louder as it began to race, adrenalin fueling me now.
  I slide off the couch silently and crouched down low, making my way to the stairs slowly as I listened closely, straining my ears for any source of sound. Then I heard it. A shoe scuffed on the rug between the couch and the kitchen.
  I took slow, quiet breaths despite my screaming lungs and moved faster, sure to keep my feet from dragging on the ground.
  I bit my lip in my relief as I touched the railing to the staircase and took my first step up.
  "Light controls have been overridden."
  I jumped at my Omni-Tool's alert and felt the static from it open on my bare arm.
  I was made and I knew it by at least three shouts of "get her!" and I ran up the stairs, praying my muscle memory wouldn't fail me.
  I stumbled in surprise when I reached the landing of the second floor but took off at full speed down the hall, dragging my fingertips along the wall and finding the other rooms with it before I reached mine.
  I held on to the doorframe as I used it to make a quick turn into my room behind the wall. "Close master bedroom door now!"
  "Incoming blockage."
  "NOW!!!" I yelled at the tool, while I fumbled to find the manual override, but it was too late. I felt hands grab my wrist and waist before hauling me into the air.
  At the peak, I felt my body being thrown down and I closed my eyes, letting my fall training take over so my body relaxed and took the shock mostly evenly.
  The breath still left my lungs, however, while I felt someone panting atop of me from the exertion.
  I let my eyes stay closed to feign unconsciousness while I let the dizziness wear off and took in the body above me.
   Batarian, by the feel and smell, unknown gender. Both males and females felt the same to me, which had gotten me in trouble before.
  "I got her," it announced to someone else.
  "Good job. Is she really blind like they say?" Female voice.
  "She was fumbling for the controls on the door like she might be," came the Batarian's voice.
  "Do we really think this is a good idea? A human hero? The Alliance will be after us in no time for taking their prize!" Turian voice, male by the sub vocals.
  "Come on, Tiberius. You're not going to wimp out on us now, are you?" Female.
  "Of course not, I'm just making sure that we have a plan for her."
  The Batarian chuckled. "Of course we do. Where did you leave the bag?"
  "Downstairs, I dropped it when we had to chase the bitch. The door is locked, though." Turian.
  "Go get it, Tiberius. We need it now."
  I could hear him stalk out, muttering as he went.
  "Damn idiot. I don't know why we kept him along for the ride." Batarian.
  "We need someone to represent the unhappiness from the other species. Of course we weren't going to get a Salarian to do it and Krogan are too loud and focused on breeding on their home planet right now. He was the logical choice." Female.
  "I would have preferred another Asari," the Batarian muttered.
  "Why? So you could have two asses to stare at? We need the Turian manpower."
  So she was an Asari.
  I held my breath and braced myself. If I could make it to the closet, it would be enough time to get a message out for help. Not to mention I had a pistol there.
  In one fluid motion, I rolled to my side and put my feet under me, pushing off into a sprint as I opened my Omni-Tool.
  "Send an emergency message to C-Sec offices and Garrus Vakarian!"
  "What would you like your message to say?"
  I could hear them shouting and scrambling after me, but I was close to the closet.
  "Intruders in apartment, second floor, possible mercs, assumed with deadly force! Need backup immediately! End of message! Send immediately!"
  "Message sent. Emergency mode activated, tracking beacon active, authorities have been alerted to emergency distress."
  I reached the closet and went straight for the waist high shelf straight in front of me and snatched up my pistol. I turned and aimed it at the doorway as I activated the gun. I heard someone skid to a halt with an "oh shit!" Right as I fired off a shot.
  "Crazy bitch!"
  I felt someone collide with me and I grunted in pain as we hit the shelf behind me, which sent everything else on it clattering to the ground, mostly heat sinks and mods.
  I pulled my arm back and moved to aim the gun at my assailant, but a strong hand gripped my hand that held the gun and forced my arm back toward myself.
  I pushed back against the force, but it was no use, they were stronger than me.
  "Going to try and shoot me?" The Asari growled in my ear. "You'll find out what happens in a moment."
  With that, she gave one last push and I felt her pull the trigger over my finger, heard the blast of the pistol, which made my ears ring a split second before I felt the searing pain in my waist.
  I cried out and released the gun, which clattered to the ground before I heard the Asari kick it away.
  She then let me collapse to the ground, where I splayed out, shock and pain keeping me from moving right away.
  "Take out her Omni-Tool. We don't need that bitch to try to send out another SOS."
  I heard the Batarian chuckle. "With pleasure."
  Before I could react, I felt his heavy boot crush my whole hand, wrist, and Omni-Tool.
  I screamed in pain as I tried desperately to free my hand from his boot and the sparking electronics on my Omni-Tool.
  Finally, he released me, and I drew my hand to my chest while I turned on my good side to curl into the fetal position.
  "Help isn't coming, Commander," the Asari whispered into my ear as she crouched next to me. "You're all ours now."
  I drew in a shaky breath before I whipped my head sideways, which cracked my skull into hers, drawing a shout of anger and pain from her.
  It was satisfying until she kicked me hard on the small of my back.
  "We're going to take our time with you. This is going to be fun."

  ((A/N: Well? What do you guys think? Is Shep gonna survive this one? I mean, three heartless invaders, no communication or gun and she's been shot! I hope this makes up for not updating for so long! I'll try to not keep you guys on edge for too long ;) lol don't forget to comment and vote, guys!!! Thank you so much for reading and hey! I just saw today that Survivor reached 400 READS!!! This is amazing!!! I never thought it would get this much attention and I wanted to thank you guys for that too!!! You all are amazing!!!))