We decided to stay in the woods since there are more hiding places available if an enemy is in sight. I looked to the map and we're halfway there , not bad for a mission that is already 5 days and counting.
"How long till the next neighborhood?" Deni asked as there's another storm heading our way. "About a mile" I told her and then we continued walking. About quarter of a mile we reached s waterfall, "Finally, there's water" I said and then brought out my jug to get some. Deni brought her extra and filled it too.
Due to the harnesses , we're able to go for days without eating or drinking anything. A maximum of 6 days I guess. "That is some good water" she said.
"Yeah it is and it's cold which makes it even better"
Then suddenly , a rock fell into the water. I immediately grabbed my gun and looked up and saw skitters and mechs up there staring at the horizon. I immediately signalled Deni to step away from the falls. As soon as we're both hidden under the trees, we started to run but then the mechs jump and the ground shakes a bit.
We were able to hide behind the trees but if the mechs and the skitters sensed us , then we're gonna have to fight them. The mechs followed the road we just went through , the skitters must have stayed at the top of the waterfall since we didn't see them go down. But as soon as we got out of hiding, a group of them jumped in front of us.
"Shit" Deni said.
The skitters then attacked us, there are like 5 of them. We are trying to shoot them down while running away. Boom! one down, Boom! two down.
"Benji! the bomb!" Deni shouted.
"Cover me!" I told her and the reached for one of the explosives in my pocket.
Then I threw the bomb to the skitters and thankfully they exploded. "Close one" she said , panting. "Yeah" I told her and then smiled.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
Matt's P.O.V
I was in the grounds with Jeanne & Jordan , trying to visualize how the trees will look like once they're done. "It's gonna be tall" Jordan said and then smiled at us. "It is" Jeanne said to him. "Do you think they will like it?" he asked.
"Yeah. I bet so" she said and then smiled.
"They're gonna like it Jordan" I assured him.
Then suddenly, Diego arrived with a gun pointing at us. "Come with me" he ordered .
"Diego?" Jeanne said starting to tear up.
He looks so different now , we can see the bulge of the eyebug right at his temple. "I said come with me!".
I whispered to Jordan to run as fast as he could inside. Jeanne was able to distract him for a bit that's why Jordan had a clear way out. He then went to me and said "Hello Matt, we're gonna have a talk. Now, move" then pointed the gun at my head.
Jeanne took my arm and we slowly walked away. "You're never gonna get away from this" she told him.
"Baby, I already did" he said and then smiled in a very evil way.
..........................................................................................................................................................................
Hal's P.O.V
"Did you see my other boots?" I asked Maggie as we're changing clothes , getting ready for the long day ahead.
"No" she said and then asked "Are we scheduled on patrol?".
"Yeah" I said and then looked in the cabinet , nothing there. I looked under the bed and saw something covered in cloth , that must be it . I reached for it but it's very heavy , I don't remember putting something heavy in there so I pulled it out and uncovered it.
"The hell?" I said in disbelief. I looked at her and she too was shocked at what was under there. It's the Volm machine that was stolen last night.
.....................................................................................................................................................................
Tom's P.O.V
"Good Morning" Anne greeted as I woke up. "You're up early" I said , "Yeah .. Me & Lourdes are working on something" she said and then smiled at me.
"Are you sure you still want to work? You're due very soon" I said and then kissed her. "I can still work" she replied. Then a guard knocked on the door, "What is it?" I asked.
"This little kid wants to talk to you sir, he said it's emergency" he said and then pointed at Jordan. "Mr. Mason?" he asked.
"Why Jordan? What's wrong?"
"It's Matt and Jeanne ..."
"What happened to them?"
"Diego took them" he said. I told him to go to Captain Weaver and I ordered the guard to call a group of soldiers. "What's happening? Anne asked. "Diego's back. He took Jeanne and Matt with him" I told her. I quickly changed my clothes and then got out of the room to meet Dan.
"Tom? What the hell is going on?" he asked , really mad. "Diego's back . He took Jeanne and Matt as hostages" I told him.
"Where are they now?"
"Somewhere near. I'm sure of that" I said to him and we went to the other soldiers and formed a plan to take them back.
..........................................................................................................................................................................
"Look at that" Deni said and the pointed out at their mother ship that is located in heart the city. She handed me the binoculars and then looked at the ship , there are at least 5 fish heads on one of the panels. ''What do you think they're doing?" she asked.
"Don't know but I'm sure it's not good"
"Did they ever do something good?" she asked sarcastically.
I brought out a pen and a notebook and wrote down what we saw. "Are you making a list?" she asked , trying not to laugh. "Yeah, we'll need this. Trust me" I told her.
"C'mon let's go down this building" she said and then jumped all the way down. After I got down , we decided to go to the woods again and continue the mission.
"How do you think they're doing back in Charleston?" she suddenly asked while we're walking in the cold and wet forest. "I don't know. Hopefully they're good"
"What do you think Taylor's doing right now?"
"What?" I asked her.
"Nothing" she said and then walked faster. Did she just asked about Taylor , she knows her? . "Do you know Taylor?" I asked her.
"No" she said and then walked even faster.
"Catch up Benji!" she called out and then laughed at me. When I was able to catch up with her , she started ro run. "You kidding me?" I said.
"Don't be a baby" she said and then run towards the cave nearby. Then suddenly the entrance of the cave exploded. I looked to the side and saw 2 Mega-mechs staring at us.
"Deni run!!" I shouted at her and she ran to the opposite direction and into the back of the cave. I ran back to the city to chase them away from her , but only one followed me and the other one went to Deni. I'm trying to dodge every bullet and every missile shot to me, this Mega mech is actually fast that's why it's very hard to find cover.
I reached the end of the cliff. I will jump if I have no choice, I turned around to see if I really have to and then it happened. I was shot at lower right side of my abdomen , near my hips. I wasn't able to jump , I just fell.
...............................................................................................................................................................................
Jeanne's P.O.V
He brought us to a warehouse near the camp. There's 2 skitters in it. I'm trying my best to reason with him but it's no use.
"Diego please .."
"Shut up!" he shouted and then pointed the gun at Matt's head. "No! Diego don't" I said as tears fall down to my face.
"Tell me all you know about the machine that the Volms are building or else I'll blow his head off" he said , still holding the gun at Matt's temple.
"I don't know"
"Yes you do. Your father is Captain Weaver, I'm sure he tells you everything"
"No he doesn't"
"Then you Matt , tell me what you know or I'll kill you" he said to him. Matt's so scared , I tried to go to him but Diego told me to step away.
"Dad will get you" Matt told him.
"Really? Where is he now? huh? Do you think they're gonna believe that little kid?"
"Why not?" Matt asked.
I know now what to do , I'm going to make him mad. Diego is a strong person , I know he'll regain control of his body again. "Did you took us because you're scared of our Dads?" I asked him directly.
"What the hell did you say?" he asked and then pointed the gun at me.
"Are you scared?" I asked firmly.
"No I'm not" he said and then grabbed my neck. "Listen to me Jeanne. I took you as hostages because I'm sure the great Dan Weaver and Tom Mason will come here in no time at all. They will tell me everything they know or else I'll blow your heads off" he said.
"You're only one . Thole army of Charleston is coming here. You will never stand a chance" Matt told him.
"Shut up!" Diego shouted and then tied ordered me to tie Matt up.
"I don't want to" I told him but he's pointing the gun back at Matt. "Do it now" he commanded. I'm trying my best not to break down any harder because that won't help us. "It's gonna be fine Matt" I whispered to him. I didn't tie him tightly , I left space so he could escape from it.
"Now step back" Diego said and so I did.
"Jeanne?" I heard someone call outside.
"Dad? I'm here" I shouted but then a gunshot went off.
......................................................................................................................................................................
Tom's P.O.V
I asked for Murich's help in locating Diego's whereabouts. He then lead us to a warehouse nearby. "Go to the back" I whispered to Anthony and the other soldiers , only Me, Murich and Dan are left in the front of the warehouse.
Dan called for Jeanne but we heard a gunshot. "Diego!! come out there you bastard!!" Dan shouted angrily. "Don't push him Dan. We don't want something bad to happen don't we?" I whispered to him.
"Point taken" he replied.
"The door's open" Diego said and we came inside. "Drop your weapons" he commanded. We did and he told all of us to go into the corner. "Tell me what you know about the Volm machine" he said.
"How did you find about that?"
"You seriously think I'm the only mole in Charleston" he said. We're all shocked with that statement , there's another one? Who could it be?.
"Well you're not getting any" I told him and then he pointed the gun at Matt. "Really?" he said and then put his fingers on the trigger. I looked at Matt , he's starting to cry.
"Diego please .. just stop it" Jeanne pleaded but he's not listening.
"Let's talk about this son" Dan told him but he's still holding the gun firmly. I saw the soldiers come through the back door, they are in place. Just waiting for the shot.
Suddenly , it seemed like the real Diego is starting to fight the effect of the parasite. His other hand is trying to push the other one away from Matt. He's in a struggle with himself.
........................................................................................................................................................................
I don't know how long I've been lying in the ground, thankfully the rain woke me up. I tried to get up , but my wound is hurting. It's a lash not a gunshot wound , better than I thought. I almost crawled under the big tree nearby to get some shelter.
It's still slightly bleeding. "Great" I thought to myself. I hope Deni's okay . I'm dripping wet from the rain, it's really cold.
Jeanne's P.O.V
Diego is trying his best to pull through . "You can fight it Diego. I knwo you can" I said as he's still in strugllr with himself , trying to regain control.
"I know you're strong Diego. Please" I pleaded.
"Shut up!" he shouted and the parasite was able to take hold of him again for a split second but he was able to resurface again.
"Jeanne?" he said.
"Diego, I'm here" I said.
He then raised the gun and put it in his head. "Don't do that Diego please don't. We can get it out of your head please "
"I'm sorry" he cried, Dad and Professor Mason startde to run for him but he pulled the trigger.
"No!!" I shouted in horror. And then held his body in my arms. "Jeanne!" Dad said as he's running towards me. It happened very quick , he's dead.
.................................................................................................................................................................................
Deni's P.O.V
I was able to hide quickly so the Mega mech didn't noticed me at all. I came back to look for Ben but when I got there , I only saw his bag lying on the forest floor.
"Benji where are you?" I thought to myself. I lifted his bag up and continued walking to find a shelter , the rain will fall down any minute. Hope he's okay.
............................................................................................................................................................................