Penguins of Anarchy III: Edge of Disaster

Nineteen

Bledsoe Much held Felly at gunpoint at the edge of the plateau, not far from the watchtower from which Dreemo had just fallen. Felly was squirming; new strength had gathered in her body when she realized that it was Dreemo, not Drake, who was risking his life to save her. "Stay still," Bledsoe Much ordered.

"Why?" Felly asked defiantly. "Aren't I dead anyway?"

Bledsoe didn't even smile. "Yes."

Felly groaned in discomfort. "You know, Bledsoe, I didn't used to think you were a very valuable member of the team when we escaped Aurora Base. I didn't think you were really of much use and were too headstrong to follow orders. But it turns out I was half-wrong—you're very powerful; it's just too bad you turned into a monster."

Bledsoe Much sneered. "What, like Omniscion?" he asked incredulously. "I'm nothing like him! I'm smarter, I'm stronger, and I'm the one who'll make it off this island unscathed." And Bledsoe smiled. All of his planning had led up to this moment. Bledsoe Much, future Supreme Commander of the Martial Alliance, was about to win.

As Dreemo plunged through the water, he realized that he hadn't been killed by the sharp rocks. He swam to the surface, gasping for breath, and paddled on his back to a large rock.

Dreemo wretched. Sam was gone, along with Riker and Marcosis. What a mess. A mess that Dreemo could never clean up. A tear rolled down his cheek. He rubbed his eyes and saw that Sam's dog tags had somehow landed on the very same rock that Dreemo now lay on. More tears streamed down his face as he grabbed the dog tags, as if they were all that was left of his best friend, as if somehow Sam's spirit might live on as long as Dreemo kept those dog tags. He hung them around his neck, just as he had done with Klondike and Vileer's tags.

Dreemo lay flat on the black rock, and would have lain there until he died if he hadn't heard Felly's voice. At first, he thought he might have been hearing another tape recorder, or even Felly's voice from heaven as he was passing away, but then he saw a dark figure far above him on the top of the plateau. "Dreemo!" Felly was screaming. "Get out of here! Run!"

But that was the last thing Dreemo was about to do. He didn't care if he was imagining things or if this was real. He quickly got to his feet—or, rather, his foot—leapt back into the water, and swam furiously toward a rocky slope that led to the top of the plateau.

Dreemo collapsed after taking just one step, but then proceeded to drag himself up the slope. This was it. This was his last chance to make Marcosis, Riker, and Sam's deaths worth something. This was his last chance.

Drake and the others raced toward his gunship at the landing pad at Blizzard Base. Suddenly, the fugitives heard the roar of snowmobiles coming up behind them. Fragnile turned around and shot the drivers of the two nearest snowmobiles with his assault rifle. "Ursynz, give me a hand!" he shouted. Ursynz obediently turned around and began shooting at the Antarctican soldiers engaging them. Several foot soldiers were charging at them as they followed them into the base, and several snowmobiles were still coming. Terasane, Larikos, and Glyphton joined Fragnile and Ursynz in the firefight.

"Fragnile, we've gotta go!" Drake shouted. Camo was already in the gunship's cockpit, igniting the engines.

"If someone doesn't cover you, you'll never make it out alive!" Fragnile replied.

"I'm not leaving you behind!"

"It's not up to you!"

Gostt grabbed Drake by the arm and started pulling him up the ramp of the gunship. Drake pulled back. "No! We can't leave them!" he insisted.