Survivor

Chapter 23

Shepard
  I came out of the bathroom of the single story building that was Strike HQ, my eyes searching for Garrus but instead catching Hackett's.
  He beckoned me over and I made my way to him, snatching a wineglass off the serving table on my way past and took a swig before I stopped in front of Hackett with a smile.
  "You wanted to see me, sir?"
  "Yes. How are you holding up, Shepard?"
  I sighed, my smile breaking. "It's hard to take, but I'll get by. That's what soldiers do. It never leaves you."
  Hackett nodded in thoughtful agreement.
  "When Lawson told me you were alive, I couldn't believe it. And yet I knew you were a fighter."
  My eyebrows raised in surprise, my lips parted as I worked to say something. "You- you knew?"
  "Yes. I was one of the first that she alerted, along with Officer Vakarian. I was the first to arrive, of course. She explained that she intends to take over Cerberus as a less terrorist-minded operation as well as her intention to leave the Sol system in one piece with her men. She needed my help with that, of course. Her alerting me of your life was a courtesy and a show of good faith of her intentions with the new Cerberus she'll be creating."
  I nodded slowly, letting this all sink in. "Garrus... He knew that you were aware I was alive, then?"
  Hackett pursed his lips but nodded. "Yes, he knew. He was there when I visited while you were at the hospital a few times."
  I raised the wineglass to my lips, draining it easily and shut my eyes, struggling with why he didn't tell me himself.
  I opened my mouth to speak, to ask what Hackett had wanted to speak to me about when an explosion rocked the building.
  Dust billowed everywhere, causing everyone to cough as screams erupted from the other side of the building where the explosion started.
  "Stay here," Hackett ordered as he made his way quickly to the chaos.
  I clenched my jaw and ran to the armory I saw in the back by the restrooms, arming myself with a pistol and two M8 Avenger assault rifles, briefly grunting my disapproval before I moved forward with one at the ready, ducking low when I heard gunshots.
"Samantha!" I heard Garrus calling me.
I stood enough to see him and to catch his attention, both of us finding each other easily.
I handed him an Avenger and pulled him behind a toppled table for cover.
"What the hell is going on?"
Garrus shook his head, checking the weapon to assure himself it was ready to fire. "Hell if I know. It seems like a raid, but I'm not sure who it is or how many. Just stay low!"
I glared at him, which made him turn his body fully to me and place both hands on my shoulders. "Damn it Samantha! Don't make me worry about you! Stay low and if things get worse, get the hell out and wait for me at that hotel a few blocks over okay?"
I looked away and nodded, frowning.
Garrus pressed a kiss to my forehead before he peeked out of cover, jumping up to quickly make his way toward the gunshots.
I waited a few minutes, working my jaw as I decided whether I should listen to Garrus or not.
Finally, the soldier I was said the hell with it and I peeked over the table, working out the exits and best ways to move forward.
There was so much chaos, mercs flooding everywhere shooting at those who tried to fight back.
I raised my gun and shot three mercs  down that were about to execute a woman and two teenage boys who were trying to run.
One boy was shot, as he was clutching his thigh and limping, his face twisted in pain.
I ran out and took one of his arms, the other boy taking the other and I led them to the back.
"How bad?" I asked as I set him down behind the bar.
The boy lifted his hand to show a deep graze, but it wasn't horrible, nor something Medi-Gel couldn't fix.
"Okay, there's an emergency kit in the bathroom. Take one Medi-Gel pack to that and get the hell out. The window is big enough to get out of. I'll cover you."
The woman thanked me and took one arm of the boy while the other was taken by the second boy.
I left cover shooting, keeping the attention of the mercs, sending people toward the exits, but we were getting overrun.
"Let's go!" An Alliance soldier shouted, pulling me with him and the 5 man group that was retreating toward the door.
I fought it for a moment until I remembered Garrus telling me to meet him at the hotel, then I reluctantly followed, their hands on my uniform giving me no other choice anyways.
Finally, we made it outside, only to be ambushed by four mercs.
The men around me turned and fired but it was no good, they had the jump on us. They took out four of us while we only managed to kill one of theirs before they descended on us, restraining our already tired bodies.
They dragged us to the shuttle, reporting to someone over a comm that they had their target, and I had a sinking feeling that the target was me.
One of the soldiers that had survived fought them when they tried to throw him in the shuttle, screaming profanities at his captor.
I winced when his captor kicked him in the stomach to subdue him enough to pull out his pistol and shoot the soldier in the head.
They tossed the remaining soldier, the one who had called a retreat, in the shuttle roughly, then tossed my writhing body in after him, alerting the pilots that they were clear.
I stayed silent, taking in my surroundings, happy to see that it was a standard Kodiac, much like the one I had flown in on.
My eyes widened as I remembered the pistol I had tucked into the front waistband of my uniform, which caught the attention of my fellow captive.
I sat up behind the pilot seat, motioning for him to do the same behind the copilot.
Discreetly, I lifted my shirt enough to show the pistol waiting in my waistband.
The man rolled his eyes, looking like he wanted to laugh and mouthed "amateurs" with the shake of his head.
"Name?" I mouthed the question, making him smile.
"Tom," he coughed, snickering a bit with the cough, causing one of the mercs to bang the seat and yell for him to shut up.
He shrugged and rolled his eyes and I shook my head at him, smiling.
That smile soon faded as I turned back to the task at hand: getting us free.
I met Tom's eyes, silently begging him to trust me, and he laid back, seeming to wonder what I was thinking.
"My friend was hit pretty badly," I called, my voice hoarse from the dust of the explosion.
"Good for him," the merc in the copilot seat muttered.
"Please, he needs help now! I can't help him like this!"
"You're not getting free, bitch!"
I pretended to shrink under the furious gaze he turned on me. "Please! Just give him some Medi-Gel! He could die!"
The pilot groaned behind me.
"Fuck's sakes, Jamal, just put Medi-Gel on the bastard so she'll shut up! I don't want to hear her the whole ride!"
Jamal unstrapped, muttering under his breath as he grabbed Medi-Gel from the console before he came back, turning to Tom, who thankfully played nearly dead.
"Where does it hurt?"
I slipped out my gun and aimed it at the merc, pulling the trigger at his back, hitting him square between the shoulders, with Tom breaking his neck as he fell to finish him.
"What the hell?"
The pilot turned, forgetting the controls.
Tom took the gun off the dead merc and quickly shot the pilot, who fell forward onto the controls, spilling blood over them as he sputtered for his last breaths.
I ran to the controls, pulling him off frantically as the shuttle made a rapid descent.
My heart stopped at the sight of the sparking board.
"Tom! You shot the fucking controls!"
"Use the copilot!"
I shook my head quickly as I tried the copilot controls, confirming that they were dead too.
"It's dead! You hit something bad! Strap in!"
I grabbed the belts from the pilot seat and extended them out behind the seat so I could tie myself to the back of the seat.
The last thing I felt before impact was the belt biting into my skin where I had tied it, pressing right on my old gunshot wound.
Then everything went black.

((A/N: So the last update basically said it all, the excitement about the new cover and all! I'm so appreciative to you guys for reading my fanfic! Without all these reads, I'm not sure how far this would have gotten! You guys are my inspiration to keep writing and give y'all an ending! Thank you!!!))
((A/N: Also as an addition, I forgot to mention that there's a fanfic awards going on, nominations are open right now! If you guys love Survivor (or even like it just a little lol) maybe drop a nomination for it in there? The more the merrier! The link is here: http://my.w.tt/UiNb/RlsLTjaV9z
Nominations close Jan 29th! Thanks guys!!!))