Ori and the Stranger

Chapter 24

Blitz slowly peaks his head up over the trench, and feels satisfied when he sees the Tyrant, reduced to a pile of flaming, bent steel. He slowly climbs up out of the trench, seeing the Volker bodies scattered around him. However, he does see something else: a marine, laying face down in the mud, moving a little bit.

Happy to see a survivor, Blitz steps over to the marine. "On your feet, soldier," Blitz orders. However, the soldier doesn't budge. Blitz kneels down next to the soldier, grabbing his shoulder and rolling him over onto his back. When he sees the soldier's face, he recoils in surprise and disgust.

The soldier's visor has been broken off, revealing a burnt, charred skull underneath.

~~~~~~~~~~

"ETA T-Minus 1 minute, sir. Better get ready."

Blitz nods, stepping back into the cargo bay. He looks at Helm, and the two nod knowingly to each other. Helm stands from his seat, shouting at the rest of the Minutemen with his powerful, authoritative voice. "We're about to drop, boys. Get ready." Afterwards, he grabs his rifle and places it on his back, the magnetic locks securing the rifle to the side of his jetpack.

As Blitz, Vice, Metaljacket, and Helm prepare to jump, Blitz pauses, getting a weird sense of Deja Vu. Has he done this before? He shakes the thought away, and lines up at the ramp with his fellow Minutemen. He stares at the light on the wall, waiting for it to turn red.

A powerful boom shakes the Hawk, and the sound of rushing air is heard. Though, the ramp isn't open. Blitz turns around and sees a massive hole directly in the side of the Hawk.

"Dammit!" Blitz hears the pilot shout. "They hit us! We're going down!" The Hawk begins to rapidly lose altitude. The Minutemen hold tightly to whatever they can as the force of the air leaving the cargo bay threatens to pull them out.

"Hold on, boys!" Helm shouts, and the Hawk starts plummeting faster and faster and faster. Blitz grits his teeth, and hears Metaljacket shouting something out. Then, the Hawk hits the ground. Blitz's head slams against the floor of the Hawk, and Blitz immediately blacks out.

~~~~~~~~~~

     Blitz stirred himself awake, letting out a weak groan as he raised his head. He found himself laying face down in the dirt, his head throbbing and aching.

     He slowly rose to his feet, looking around at the endless mists before him. He groaned again, and started walking once more. He knew what he saw was just a dream, but it felt so real.

     He shivered a bit as he walked, feeling deeply chilled despite not actually feeling cold. As he wandered, he heard the trees whisper to him through their taunting grimaces. He couldn't tell what they were saying, but he honestly didn't want to know.

     He walked and walked and walked and walked some more, but nothing ever seemed to change. The trees looked the same, the ground felt the same, the air was just as cold and harsh. But through the haze and confusion, Blitz heard a voice call to him.

     "Turn around..."

     Blitz froze, not moving a muscle. The voice beckoned to him once more.

     "Turn around..."

     Blitz felt the hairs on his neck stand up. The voice didn't sound right, it sounded far too weird and unnatural. However, it continues to beckon.

     "Turn around..."

     After another moment's hesitation, Blitz finally decided to listen. Slowly, he turned around.

     His eyes strained to see through the mist, but he could definitely tell that there was some kind of shape laying on the ground. Slowly he stepped up to it.

     As he got closer, he could barely make out the shape of a human body laying face down on the ground. He hesitantly stepped up to it, and knelt by its side. "Hello?" he hesitantly asked. When he got no response, he gently laid a hand on the body's shoulder and turned it over.

     A burnt, charred skull stared back at him. Blitz yelped in surprise, shooting up and tripping on a tree root. He fell and landed on his back, panting as his heart raced. He tried to calm himself down, and got back to his feet, trying to push the thought of the charred face out of his mind.

     He turned around and began to walk, but stopped when he saw another shape in the fog, this time much large and glowing at several points. Blitz hesitantly approached the shape, and made out the features of a crashed Hawk, burning at several points.

     As he observed the Hawk's chassis, he suddenly gasped as he made out familiar red accents and the Minutemen sigil on the side. His hesitant walk turned into a full-blown run as he ran up to the Hawk and went to the other side. On the other side, he saw bodies.

     As he got closer, his heart dropped as he recognized the bodies of his fellow Minutemen.