Hotel Six: A Call of Duty Fanfiction

Chapter 11: Roach

"Damn," said Jessica, looking outside Hangar 1. Though most days in Credenhill were pleasant during the summer, this particular day was thick with rain and dark clouds. "I thought the rain back Stateside was bad..."

Soap was leaned on the door frame. "Really?" he asked. "I thought it was pretty arid."

"Nah, you're thinking of Texas and Arizona." she said. "Down south in Louisiana and Florida, it downpours during late summer... And the Northwest just rains all the time..."

He chuckled. "Well, hopefully, Price won't tell us to run in this crap."

"No, he won't... But I'm going to."

She swiveled her head to him. "... First of all: you bastard," she growled, getting a chuckle in response. "And second: where's Price?"

"In a meetin', apparently he's talkin' with a General in the US Army about doin' co-ops and possibly gettin' more members."

Jess nodded. "Interesting... Who is the General?"

Soap slapped her back a couple of times as he started walking into the rain. "No more questions, we've got a day to get started."

"Gal," said Soap. "Step it up; you're laggin' behind."

She panted and pushed forward. "Yeah, yeah, I know; I'm trying." she muttered. 

Roach looked at her with a put-off expression. "If you hold us up and Soap makes us run this again, I'm soooo gonna kill you." 

Gal huffed and licked her dry lips with a barely damp tongue. "Oh, really? You'll kill me?" she said. "I'd love to see that." She tried to press on a little faster, but she ended up falling further back, and a brief pang of worry surged through her. 

Roach slowed down and grasped her scruff before running a back at his normal pace. "C'mon! I don't want to run this again just because you're tired; let's go!"

She gritted her teeth and picked up the pace again so Roach would stop dragging her, and her stride opened up. Her legs stretched out long and her gait became almost like lunges instead of steps. She was sucking in air by the deepest breaths she could manage, and though her limbs were going numb, she felt an incredible amount of energy.

And then she felt something pop as her right front leg came down to the ground. Her shoulder buckled and she skidded on the ground. A loud explicative escaped her as she shifted and stood again to run, clutching her arm.

Roach fell in beside her. "What happened?" he asked, a mark of concern on his face.

Jess shook her head. "My shoulder fell out..." she groaned through gritted teeth. "I'm fine, don't worry about it."

Though he could go faster without her, he didn't leave the spot by her side. They were close to the end of the trail by now, and it didn't feel right to finish and leave her behind.

She kept the arm close to her side to avoid moving it. They crossed the end of the trail, and she stopped, panting. She wanted to collapse on the ground, but settled for bending over with her hands on her knees.

Roach grabbed her shoulder and looked at her face. "You alright?"

Jessica turned an irked expression to him. "Yes, I'm fine, Roach." she growled. "Leave me alone."

"What happened?" asked Soap. 

"She says her shoulder fell out."

The Lieutenant cocked a brow. "The hell does that mean?"