Nocturne ➸ Ben Parish

05

THE REMAINING MEMBERS OF the squad fled downstairs.
"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Ringer slammed her fists against the metal door.
     "Nugget." Zombie stuttered, "I-I left Nugget. I need to go back for him." he turned to Dumbo, "Where can I get shot in the torso without dying."
     "What?" Dumbo's jaw dropped.
     "There's no way I'm letting you do this." I told the recruit.
     "I can't just leave him." Zombie cut me off.
     I slipped my tracker into the space between my cheek and my teeth, "You didn't let me finish. I'm not letting you do this alone. If anyone's going to get shot, it's me."
     Zombie stared in shock.
     "I'm squad leader, we've already lost two recruits tonight. I'm not going to let it be three." I turned to Dumbo, "Where can I be shot, Ringer can do it."
     "Right here." Dumbo pointed to a spot near my hip, "Anywhere else and you'll bleed out."
     My sister didn't hesitate. She'll finally get to shoot me for what I did. I took a deep breath before I could see her pull the trigger. The pain sent me to my knees, but I couldn't let it stop me. No one in the squad was going to be left behind.
     "Let's go." I reached up to Zombie.
     He swung my arm over his shoulder, helping me make my way to the rendezvous point. The helicopter was there soon enough.
     "Where's the rest of your squad?" the same boy from earlier asked.
    "K.I.A." I managed, "I've been shot, but Zombie is alright."
     The boy didn't ask any other questions, but I could tell that he was skeptical. Most of the squad was "dead", one was injured, but the last one was unscathed.
     I found myself leaning up against Zombie for most of the flight. It felt as if someone were cutting me open from the inside. You did not think this through, did you? Blood soaked through my camouflage uniform.
     "You should've let me take the shot." he whispered.
     "I'm fine." I said just as quietly.
     He let me rest my head on his shoulder. Everything was suddenly blurry, exhaustion gave me a pain worse than the gunshot, and the odds of us getting Nugget without dying seemed to be shrinking by the moment.
     "We're here." the boy told us as the chopper was landing.
     I couldn't see by the time we got off. I trusted that Zombie would lead me back. I knew my knees were giving out before I even started falling. Maybe he should've taken the shot. Other recruits rushed to my aid, but I was already slipping into unconsciousness.
"Nocturne!" even Zombie's voice sounded static.

"What the hell did you do?" Marika slapped me as soon as we lost Vosch and his soldiers.
I was sobbing, "She told me to do it. She said she was just dragging us down."
"You could've found another way." she stopped yelling.
"I freaked out." I didn't dare to look up at her, "I didn't know what else to do."
Silence.
When I finally looked up, I found that Marika was gone. She had left me.
"Mari?" I called out.
No response.
I just sat there until the sun started setting. I may have been confused, but I knew that the silencers take advantage of the cover of the night.
"I'm sorry Ez." I mumbled as I stood.
I was completely alone.

"Hello." Reznik's replacement gave me the same fake smile I had received so many times at the base.
"Did they tell you what happened to Reznik?" I asked.
She shook her head.
I smirked, "I killed her and I can promise you that I'm not going to stop until I'm either dead or every one of Vosch's brainless minions is."
She stepped out of my reach.
I sighed. My hip still hurt like hell, but it wasn't as bad as it was before I passed out. Did Zombie reach Nugget? Were we found out? Does Vosch even know I'm here? I couldn't quite wrap my mind around all of my thoughts.
"Vosch would like to speak with her." someone said from the doorway.
Reznik's replacement nodded quickly. She'd be extremely happy to get away from me.
I was brought into the control center in a wheelchair. Vosch sat alone at a table in the middle of the room. I glared at him while I was brought to the seat across from him.
"I'm so glad that you're alive." he sure didn't show it.
"I'm so glad to be back." my speech was still slurred from all of the pain meds.
"Was that sarcasm?" he let out a chuckle.
I rolled my eyes, "Nope. I just love this place and being sent to my death. I mean, who wouldn't anyway?"
"Cut the shit." he was suddenly serious, "How about we don't lie to each other. Tell me how that bullet managed to miss everything important. If that was from the enemy, you'd be dead like you said the rest of your squad is."
I leaned forward, "I know exactly what you are. I know that we're not fighting the others. And I definitely know about Reznik, I was the one that killed her after-"
"Tell me where your squad is." he cut me off.
"Why would I?" I flinched as I sat back down.
"Well if you don't, I'll just take it from you." he made his way to the largest screen in the room, "You'll be our first subject for Wonderland."
"Like hell." I growled.
The base shook. Dust rained down from the ceiling.
"What's going on?" Vosch barked at a worker across the room.
"Cameras in the east wing are down." they responded, "I think we're under attack."

EDITED

Sorry about my inactivity, but my exams are next week and I've been trying to study.

Lynn's backstory has me messed up tbh.

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