The fight for the future

553

"Sonofa bitch!" I shout, firing my plasma rifle into the aliens side. It whirls around, blood coating its hand and rips the rifle out of my grasp. It then punches me so hard I fly backward about fifty feet and in a stupor watch helplessly as my squad tries to fight it. Ella is kneeling on the ground, blood poring from under her helmet. The guy I'd seen her hanging out with is desperately trying to break Lee's hold on him as six of the others fire their blasters into the aliens side and back. After a few seconds it screams and rushes away into the darkness.

"Ella!" He screams, ripping off his helmet and collapsing on the ground next to her. Laurel gingerly removes Ella's helmet to inspect her injuries. I grunt as I stand up. As I'm walking over to the group I take off my helmet , scoop up my rifle and raise my eyebrows at Laurel. She takes off her helmet as well and shakes her head. Her brown eyes starting to tear up. I kneel down next to Ella as she tries to breath. A ragged cough sounds and blood sprays from her destroyed throat.

"So the neutron orders a drink..." She croaks, trying to finish her joke. "and then asks the bartender, 'how much?'" her boyfriend takes her hand as her breaths become more and more shallow. Blood stains the front of her uniform. She kisses him on the cheek, leaving a trail of blood. "'For you buddy' the bartender says, 'no...charge'" then she lets out one last racking cough and lies still. A smile on her face. The young man lets her hand go and begins to cry. Lee takes him away and I fold her arms over her chest and place her helmet on top of them.

"She was a fine soldier." Erica says sadly.

"Let's push on. There's clearly something down here that needs investigating." I say, putting on my helmet and the others nod in agreement and do the same. I then walk cautiously over to the hole in the wall and peek through.

A giant ball of plasma sails through the opening and scores a direct hit on on of the men Kate and Cathy brought with them. He explodes in a burst of light and I feel something wrap around my neck. I grab the rope like object and toss it to the ground, firing off a blind burst around the corner. The rest of my group had scattered when the plasma blast hit and are now waiting for instructions. "Keep your heads down!" I shout, pulling out a grenade and tossing it through the opening. When it explodes I roll through and come up in a crouch. Which is good because a dozen plasma blasts hit the cave wall right above my head. I sight my first target and fire a burst, the plasma tearing into the aliens chest exposing muscle tissue and tendons as the alien falls. Lee follows behind me, tossing another grenade which blows five more aliens to pieces, their blood spraying into the air. I dive behind a pile of rocks and take cover as I survey my surroundings. The aliens have taken up positions in what looks like a two story building. The structure is block like, about twenty feet tall and made of the same material as the cave around it. We are positioned across what looks like a street and I can see other building leading off in both directions on either side of me.

"Is it hot in here or is it just me?" Lee asks, diving next to me.

"I thought the forecast was for clear sky's and 60 degree temps but apparently that's not the case." I reply, ducking a burst from a rapid fire plasma turret.

"For fucks sake." Lee says, firing off a burst. "Here I was, thinking we'd have a nice easy mission, you know, climb a cliff, kill a bunch of aliens and call it a day but noooooo! We get stuck down here in this shithole and have to fight for our lives whilst these fuckers try to kill us!"

"Can't help it man." I say, squeezing off a shot, "they must reeeeeealy like us if they're trying this hard to kill us." For five minutes Lee and I keep the gunners pinned down so our squads can make it to a building. Once they get there I stand up and provide cover fire for Lee as he moves to the building. Then Dominick starts firing and I run quickly over to where the rest of my friends are taking cover. As I run through the doorway I trip on a pice of metal and fall next to Kate.

"Ha. Dumass." She says as I pick myself up. A bolt of plasma hits the metal in front of me and ricochets back into the street.

"Hey...Dominick! Did you bring a torch?"

"Yea. Why?" He asks, his rifle chirping in rapid succession.

"Can I borrow it?" He tosses me a device that's a little smaller than our sidearms. I then turn the beam on maximum power and set it to the metal.

"what are you doing?!" Stel shouts at me, firing an arrow down the street.

"you'll see in a few minutes!" I shout back as i continue to cut through the metal. About ten minutes later I've made a rough square about five feet long and about four feet wide with two metal loops through the back. There is a notch cut into the top of the square that acts as a gun rest. "Get ready to move." I say, picking up the shield. I slide my left arm through the loops and prop my gun inside the notch. Holding the handle with my right hand. I roll out into the street and hold the shield in front of my body as I fire at the alien cadre stationed a few dozen yards away. Plasma bolts bounce harmlessly off the metal and I fire back in response. An aliens head jerks back and I can see blood mixed with brain pour out from the hole in its skull as soon as it hits the ground. "GO!" I shout and my team leaves their cover and takes off down the street towards what looks like a bank. I fire off a burst as i retreat backwards then I sling the shield onto my back and take off after my team.