Legends ➸ Ben Parish

17

     RINGER WAS LOADING THE pilot called Bob into the chopper. Zombie stood a few feet away from me.
     "Promise me you'll take care of Nugget and Megan." I started to get lost in his deep brown eyes.
     "With my life." he gave me that Ben Parish smile that made me want to stay, but I couldn't.
     Ringer was going there for Vosch, Cassie for Evan, and I figured I was just backup.
     I stood on my toes and kissed Zombie for what I hoped wouldn't be the last time.
     "Come back." he whispered.
"I'll try." I replied.
"I love you." he leaned his forehead against mine.
"I love you too." I managed.
Cassie motioned for me to get ready to go. I pulled away. I loaded myself onto the chopper with the others. The chopper began rising. I watched as Zombie left my view.
     A few minutes into the flight, six other choppers appeared on the radar.
     "They're ordering us to land." Bob told us.
     "Hold course." Ringer ordered, "Max our speed."
     We were headed right for the lead chopper.
     "Break." Ringer yelled, "Break now!"
     It was too late. Bob released a missile on the chopper. Flames engulfed us and debris hit the hull, but we made it out in one piece.
     "Tell them we're surrendering. They're not going to force us down or fire at us." Ringer's monotonous voice never failed to make everything she said the most boring thing ever.
     Now it'd be a few hours until we reached the base. I sighed, what if they decided to fire.
     Exhaustion took over, forcing me to sleep.

     I sat in the passengers seat as a friend of mine drove. Two people I had never met before sat in the back seats.
     "I heard this party is going to be crazy." my friend glanced at me, "Last time Britt threw a party the cops showed up."
     I smirked, "I wonder if the football team will be there."
     "Get over him. You're still stuck in the friendzone Sky." she rolled her eyes.
     My smile faded, "That's not what I meant and you know that."
     She looked over at me just long enough to allow the car to drift into another lane.
     Someone in the back seat screamed as a car slammed into us head on. I lurched forward, leaning into the seatbelt. The windshield bursted into tiny shards of glass.
     The screaming stopped.
     "Jade?" I whimpered, shaking the girl in the driver's seat.
     No one responded. It took a few minutes for an ambulance to reach us. By then I was already pulling myself out of the car.
     "Are you alright?" an older woman leaned over me.
     The paramedics informed me that I had broken my foot and had a few bruises. I was the luckiest. Jade broke her neck, one of the passengers was killed while the other suffered broken ribs.
     I was allowed to leave the hospital the same day.
    
     The next day at school was stressful. Everyone kept asking me for the details. Well, everyone except for Ben.
     "You alright?" he questioned.
     I nodded, "I just can't cheer for a few months."
     "Well dammit. Who's going to cheer me on." he smiled.
     "You know what Ben Parish. Sometimes I really hate you." I smirked as I walked away.
    
     "We're almost there." Cassie shook me.
     I wiped the tears that had started to form. I couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of never seeing Zombie or Megan again.
     Why the hell do you keep calling him Zombie. Sure, he yelled at you about it, but you knew him before the waves. You knew him when he was still Ben Parish. I stared at the metallic floor of the chopper. You loved him before the waves. You love him now. I looked up at Cassie. She loved him before the waves. She doesn't love him now.
Bob the pilot was landing the chopper. Ringer sat for the first time in the duration of the flight.
We're screwed. I gulped. Four attack helicopters swarmed overhead, troops raced to the landing zone, and antiaircraft guns swung into position.
As we neared the ground Ringer sat straight, "See you at the checkpoint."
Bob threw off his harness, running from the chopper screaming about how it was about to explode. That's our signal.
Ringer goes right, Cassie and I go left. As soon as we were far enough to survive, Ringer hit the detonator. The chopper exploded into hundreds of pieces of metal. Cassie and I follow the actions of Vosch's kid soldiers. Lay face down on the asphalt. I take off with the cluster of panicking recruits. The group pushes inside the base.
The second bomb throws the base into complete chaos. I finally separated from the crowd, running down a hallway lined with banners.
'GENERAL ORDER FOUR IS NOW IN EFFECT. YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE TO REPORT TO YOUR ASSIGNED SECTOR.' A female robotic voice rang through the empty halls.
A chain link fence stood in the middle of the hall. I jammed a grenade in the diamond shaped hole and pulled the pin. I stepped back far enough to not be killed by shrapnel, but not far enough to be missed by some. I looked down at my hand, which was now covered in a glistening glove of blood.
Cassie followed closely. At one point she pushed ahead of me, throwing a grenade into a room with three soldiers. They slammed the door shut with the bomb inside. The blast ripped the door off of its hinges.
'TEN SECONDS.' The voice seemed quieter now. That may just be me going deaf though.
I followed Sullivan further into the building.
'THREE. TWO. ONE.' Darkness. The lights shut off. We were left blind and partially dead and in the open.
I couldn't find my damn light. I dug through each pocket. You dropped it dumbass. I scolded myself.
That's when the 'rain' started.

EDITED

LEGENDS is almost finished... I'm at the last few chapters of the last book and I'm super excited to write the ending, but also sad to have to stop writing this story.

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