Pyrrha

Episode 8: Going Down

The sun was high in the sky.

Kevin and Johnson had a long sleep in until 9AM that morning. Despite all the rest they'd both had the opportunity to gain in the hospital they were both drained. Johnson had spent the morning scouring the hospital to find any provisions he could. He found a fresh set of COG armour along with an array of weapons. Blue armour covered his entire body. His shoulders, arms, legs, chest and even his neck. After being dressed in his new outfit he walked through the hallways looking for some breakfast. He was beaming with his new weapons. A Lancer assault rifle, a Boltok revolver and some spare grenades. It was the first time he'd smiled in a while now.

Upon his scouring for food he came across a lot of administrative files. He'd even found a mission briefing. It seemed that the COG wanted to hold Grisham for its hospital. It was one of very few running hospitals left on Sera and with all of the space taken up in Jacinto, it was imperative that they kept it open. It wasn't a good idea. In a soldier's journal Johnson learned that the Lambent had been controlling the city, which was strange enough.

Johnson had seen plenty of Lambent in his time. Being a Mercenary who was based in the Hollow, he'd got the chance to witness their power up close. He was part of many patrols that kept the Lambent away from Nexus. But how did they come up to the surface? When he continued reading he found out that they didn’t. Before the war, Grisham was popular for its mining companies. They refined Imulsion here, a matter of fact, the GDP was Imulsion. Most people would have been employed in the factories.

So that explained why the COG built a base, literally in the middle of nowhere.

Johnson walked back into ICU to find Kevin inspecting his Longshot sniper rifle. He had been searching for it all morning. It made his heart heavy each time he found a dead Gear on the floor of the hospital. There were tones of them the day before and now they were all dead.

Kevin had taken the opportunity to stock up on ammo and armour as well. He wore a set of webbing, large gauntlets and some large boots that had black steel shin guards attached to them. His re-claimed leather vest showed off his arms and his bare chest. He had two Snub Pistols attached to either side of his belt as well as a large knife sitting prominently next to his canteen.

"Hey man, you sure you don't want a chest guard?" Johnson said as he entered. Kevin slammed the working parts shut of his rifle and gave Johnson a stare.

"I'll be fine." He said simply. He began taking an IV drip container off the nearby stand.

“What are you doing?” Johnson said, concerned. “That could be filled with all kinds of crap.”

“Water is water.” Kevin said, showing him the bag. In prominent black letters the label was clear: H2O.

Johnson shrugged it off, Kevin was a survivor. He was just happy to be back at full fighting capacity. Armour that wasn't broken, weapons that weren't made of wood and plenty of ammo. Ammo!

"So how do you plan on finding Pyrrha?" Johnson said to the floor. His mission of finding her relied heavily on Kevin's knowledge of the way Myrrah thinks.

"You've seen the hive, haven't you?" Kevin said, spinning to face Johnson. He casually held the Longshot upwards with one arm.

"Yeah, I've been to Nexus a few times." Johnson said with a shrug.

"So we have to get to the Royal Palace." Kevin said. "Myrrah would want to keep Pyrrha close, at least until she can organise a meeting with Fenix."

Kevin began walking for the door.

"If you say so." Johnson said, following him. "Kevin!" Johnson called out. Kevin halted.

"Why do you trust me?" Johnson said with guilt. Kevin spun to face Johnson, his brow furrowed. Johnson chortled.