“5 shots 5 KIA, targets confirmed dead.
Moving to next location, Assault team please proceed.” “Ladies that’s our queue, let’s go.
Erik has the left, we have the right.
Eyes forward, trust your instinct.” I say out loud as I press forward.
“Derricc, was that the sniper rifle Erik had.” “Yeah, sounds like a damn cannon doesn’t it.” I say as I catch some bogeys peeking around the corner.
I’m about to fire when the two girls still in shock over Ol Bessie lay waste to the bogeys without hesitation.” “Nice ladies, I’ll make finer soldiers out of you yet.
“You mean fine soldiers right.” “Nope, anyone willing to fight with us is already more of a solider than most.
Finer soldiers have polished edges.
I’ll admit I was worried about you two but you carry yourselves like soldiers.
I’m proud of the resilience and perseverance you two show.
You’ll fit in just fine with us.” I say as I catch more bogeys and paint them with bullets.
“Derricc, isn’t this a little too easy.
The damn cannons that Erik seems to be firing is blasting people left and right.
Shouldn’t this be more difficult.” “Nope I rely, turning to look for a split second as Erik shoots a bullet into a gas can for another wiped group.” “Erik and Selene are the best damn team in the entire world even on their worst days.
If you need cover fire like we do now, look no further.
Neither one misses.
I’ve also work missions just me and Erik and let me tell you.
That demon can hit any shot.
I was in close combat with an assassin at a ranch and this man shot a moving knife out of a man’s hand from over 2 miles away.” Despite the conversations (and the Erik worship even though I would never tell him that to his face), these girls can somehow stay laser focused and not be a liability which is insane for two girls who are first timers on a mission like this.
Anya, that girl must have eyes in the sky.
She’s able to cover the sniper teams blind spots and make sure im going on the right path.
She’s so young but she’s able to do this so well.
As I approach the target building, I hear Erik firing less shots.
“Assault team has made it to the target building, proceeding with extraction.” “Big man, focus on keeping eyes on the building for ambushes and stragglers.
Pulling up blueprints on the building now.” “Sniper team hears loud and clear.” “Assault team waiting for further guidance.” “Girls, the sniper teams basically background noise.
We’re leading the charge now as soon as Anya gives the ok.
Remember, stay a couple steps back, protect my flanks, and don’t engage in close combat.
We got this.” I’m getting nervous about seeing Zira again.
We never got too close in the first life but she’s still family and I couldn’t protect her.
Now that I have the chance, I won’t fail again.
“Assault team, Zira is on the 4th floor in the room behind the staircase.
Proceed with caution.” “Affirmative”, I respond.
“Alright girls, it’s showtime.” With Anya instructions, I lead the girls through the house, Erik and Selene are still clearing the way as numerous dead bodies are cluttering the hallways.
“Damn, headshots through glass.
I shouldn’t be surprised but I am.” Anna notes as she presses forward.
I can only assume that most of the guards for this building got blown up outside from sniper fire as this is unusually easy.
Anya leads us up to the room Zira is in and again, no one is around.
There’s something very suspicious about this.
“Derricc, you don’t think this is a trap do you.” Ashley’s states “Im not sure but we’d better grab Zira and go before we find out.
We go in, free Zira, and start walking out of the building.
Zira is unconscious so it’s slowing us down a bit.
“Ashely, take point, I’m going to slow us down and you can react faster.
Anna you continue to stick behind me and protect my sides.
Let’s move out, we need to let everyone in on this development.” “Yes sir” We make it to the second floor when what feels like an earthquake stops us dead in our tracks.
“That’s not Erik is it?” Anna asks.
“No, it’s something explosive, we need to move now.
We get to the first floor and another explosion goes off.
“What’s going on right now Anya.” “I getting interference from my computer system give me just a moment.” We reach the door when bullets rain through the door, all missing thankfully.
I see Ashley go to the window and she immediately turns pale.
“Derricc, that was the warlord driving off with a rocket launcher in the bed of his truck.” “Oh no, ERIK!” I yell as I immediately start running on adrenaline, going through the front door only to see the building that Erik’s final sniper spot on is completely in shambles.
“ERIK” all three of us yell as we run towards the building.
When we get there all we see is Selene with bloody hands trying to dig through the rocks in a sobbing mess like I’ve seen so many time in my previous life.” “Selene, where’s Erik?” Ashley asks, the fear and panic growing as we speak.
Selene can’t even form words she’s crying so hard.
She just shakes her head and starts crying more.
“SELENE, WHERE IS MY DAMN HUSBAND?” Ashley demands.
Selene continues to shake her head, barely after to left her arm long enough to point at the rubble in front of her.
“Erik you can’t leave me.
I just got you back.
You owed me 15 years of affection remember…..you can’t back out on that now.” She collapses to her knees and she can’t stop the dam that breaks.
“Where’s big man,” we hear Anya say from behind us.
Oh man this is not going to be pretty I say as I feel the tears coming myself.
All Selene can do is just point as the rubble.
At this point even Anna is shedding lots of tears and she isn’t attach to Erik like the rest of us.
Selene grabs Anya and Ashley and can’t even look them in the face.
“He told me to trust him.
He told me he didn’t want to snipe unless I was next to him.
He told me he appreciated how much I helped him.
He….he told to trust him, and he throws me out of the damn building.
Ashley, I’m…..I’m so…..sorry…..Anya….im…..sorry.
I wasn’t…able to….save him.
It’s all my…..fault.” Selene says as she falls back on her knees.
“Derricc, is this what you and Erik felt time and time again in your past life.” “Yeah” “How did you survive this” “We didn’t, we died, over and over again.
You don’t heal, you don’t get better, you lose a piece of yourself every time.
You girls see that we’ve aged, that we changed, that we seem to be different people.
10 years of this does that.
After that I go to Selene and I pull her chin up to look me in the eyes.
“Was he smiling?” “Yes” Selene says weakly “When he said to trust him, what did his face look like.” “Peaceful” “That means that he doesn’t regret anything that happened and that if he’s truly gone, he made peace with the trauma he had from the first life.” I turn around to look at the girls “I know we’ve probably said this before but the one things that scares Erik and I more than anything was going through this life and failing to keep you safe again.
Erik and I succeeded.
Erik probably knew he wasn’t going to make it out safely and wanted to make sure at least no one else suffered with him.
Look, no one is happy, but we still have to finish the mission.” “We need to take Zira away from here.
The faster we do this, the faster we can come back with reinforcements to find Erik and see if he’s alive or not.
There’s nothing we can do right now with this much rubble and only 4 sets of working hands.” The girls except for Anna are complete sobbing messes hugging each other for comfort while Anna and I stand watch.
After they calm down a bit, I look towards the building that has my other half buried within with clenched fists, knowing I can’t do anything about it.
“Let’s move”