disclaimer: this is one of the two chapters that are very similar to actual chapters in The 5th Wave. I feel like this had to be done because these next couple chapters are very important in the story as a whole. I am not trying to take Rick Yancey's work as my own.
<><><>
THE SKY WAS DARK aside from the light dusting of snow falling, littering the night with specks of white.
Our helicopter seemed to disrupt the perfectly silent world around us, its' blades cutting into the air with loud screeches.
But perhaps the even louder noise was the thrumming of my heard against my chest. Thump thump thump.
I swallowed and tightened my grip on my machine gun. Holding the gun masked the trembling of my fingers and the nerves spilling from every pore of my body.
The whole situation left a sour taste in my mouth. We were finally going to do it. We were going to fight the Others. But we weren't all going to make it...at least according to Zombie. This mission was suppose to be a symbol of hope, except all I could see was anything but that. At least Nugget wasn't around to see this.
He was safely chained to the bathroom sink back in Barracks 10. I had left the locket Ben gave me when him. I had hoped, and was still hoping, that Nugget thought of it as some kind of promise. We weren't going to die out here and leave him a lone. We would come back to him.
My eyes met Zombie's, who was sitting across the aisle from me. He gave me a small smile and a thumbs up.
Even though I was still mad at him for being an insensitive pessimistic jerk, his smile sent my stomach into somersaults.
I gave him a smile back just as the helicopter began to descend.
Ringer lifted up two fingers and I nodded.
2 minutes.
I tightened the strap on my eyepiece, securing it to make sure it didn't fall off. That was the last thing I needed to happen. That and getting shot of course.
The helicopter began to descend quickly, swarming down to the ground in a matter of seconds. Before I knew what was happening, Zombie and the rest of the squad had already taken their harnesses off and were jumping out of the door.
I unclicked my harness and jumped down the two feet to the ground. Zombie gave the signal to the pilot and then the safety of the helicopter disappeared into the night sky.
Zombie raised two fingers, motioning for us to move forward. We lifted out machine guns up to our chests, pointing them in opposite directions as our feet moved effortlessly across the snow-covered ground.
Eventually, Ringer took the front and Zombie moved to the back, behind me. We didn't say anything as we pressed forward, our only conversation taking form in hand signals.
We twisted around a bridge and then came upon a series of tall buildings and the back entrance of a town. I turned to look back at Zombie and he nods.
We both knew that those buildings would make the perfect hiding spot for any aliens wanting to keep watch.
Ringer seems to think the same, because she drops to the ground a little ways away from a nearby bus. We follow her movements and drop to the ground beside her.
"Three of them, two o'clock," she says.
I look out past the truck and squint, trying to catch a glimpse of the green glowing blobs.
There. I see a grouping of them coming towards us, approaching the intersection in front of us.
Ringer says something about how they're probably coming to check out the helicopter, but I don't hear her. I'm hypnotized by the green blobs coming closer and closer to us. They seemed to be engulfed by the blaring green light, taking over their bodies just as the aliens took over their hosts not long before.
I meet Dumbo's eyes and he gives me a nervous look. Zombie still hadn't given us the order and The Others weren't letting up. Any minute they would be on us if Zombie didn't hurry up and tell us to open fire.
Terminate all infested personnel. That was our mission. So why was Zombie hesitating?
Ringer purses her lips impatiently and gives Zombie a questioning look. "I can make the shot," she said.
I look back at Zombie, who nods, waving a hand to dismiss her comment.
Zombie chews on his bottom lip and my heart beats faster. We won't have the element of surprise much longer.
"What's the call, Zombie?" I ask in a hushed whisper.
The pavement a few feet away from us blows up in a flurry of dust and bits of concrete. I cover Teacups ears and I squeeze my eyes shut.
The world shattered as the deafening sound rang through me, shaking my body and tripping my mind.
How did they know we were here? How many of them were there that we couldn't see? Where were they hiding? Were we surrounded? Had they been watching us the whole time?
Zombie finally gives us the 'go' and Ringer opens fire, shooting one squarely in the head. She shifts her feet and shoots another, sending more vibrations into the air. The green lights radiating in my eyepiece go off one by one, just as each one of her shots leaves another Other dead.
What we do next happens to fast for my comprehension.
Ringer stops. Ringer talks to Zombie. Zombie nods. We run.
We're headed to the bus we had seen a little earlier. We needed to get under some sort of shelter...or rather, barrier in this case.
We hide in the bus and Teacup and Poundcake scatter to crouch behind some of the seats. The rest of us press ourselves against the bus' walls. Being in the bus should've made me feel more secure and safe, but it only made me feel like a prisoner- with no choice but to sit still and serve their sentence.
We'd have to stay in here until we either decided to stay or run.
Ringer looked out the window momentarily before turning back to face us. "I have an idea. Run when I say 'go'," she said.
With that, she disappeared out the back, moving as silent and as effortlessly as someone accustomed to war often did.
Zombie nodded and I let a small murmur of approval escape my lips. Ringer would know what to do. She always knew what to do, and as much as I hated to admit it, if anyone could get us out of here alive, it would be her.
Oompa's eyes widened in shock and he stood up quickly from his spot near one of the windows.
"Where's Teacup?" He asked, his voice tinged with worry and urgency.
"I'm here," Teacup squeaked.
A flash of relief settled on Oompa's face. "Thank god, you can't do t-"
And then he was gone. His body crumbled to the floor just as a shot cut through the air and the window shattered.
Teacup screamed. Dumbo shook his friend- pleading for him to wake up. Zombie stood as stoic as ever, his face plastered with alarm. And I let out a cry, tripping over the myself as I reached out to his lifeless body.
But he was gone. And there was nothing we could do about it.
His eyes were still opened and blood still streamed from the hole in his chest, pooling on the floor around him.
Oompa was not with us anymore. He had left.
My world twisted and turned, and all the sounds around me seemed to collide, causing me to only hear muffled noises.
And then I heard it. The signal.
Ringer wanted us to run.
Dumbo finally pulled back from Oompa, just as Zombie said we had no choice but to leave him.
Zombie pulled Teacup in tow and Dumbo and Poundcake followed, clambering down the steps, to the outside of the bus.
Nothing made sense until I had escaped from the bus and the whole thing erupted into a frame of fire and smoke.
Another large boom sent shockwaves through the air and the five of us ran in the opposite direction.
Not long after, we were joined by Ringer.
Our feet thumped against the wet ground in unison and our raspy breaths left identical puffs of air into the dark sky as we ran away from the burning bus.
The ringing of shots echoed throughout the backdrop and bullets whizzed past us, pinging off of buildings and scraping against the ground.
Zombie took a sharp turn and disappeared into an alley way.
We followed as he opened one of the back doors to a rather large, tall building.
It reminded me of the buildings that had been created for us during our paintball game.
Many stairs. Plain walls. Rooms in disarray.
We climbed the stairs and I felt a small wave of relief pour over me. The raging sounds of war had been left outside; we were safe now.
I kept telling myself everything was going to be ok, that we were safe. But every time I started believing my own words, I saw Oompa's pale face and glassy eyes staring back at me.
Zombie was right. We wouldn't all make it. And if Oompa could fall prey, who says the rest of us couldn't?
We rushed into a vacant room and Ringer closed the door behind us.
Zombie took of his helmet and removed his eye piece, setting them on a nearby table. He ran a hand through his hair and put the other on the top of the table.
He looked tired. Not physically- because hell, Zombie was a non relenting war machine- but emotionally.
And the rest of the squad's faces weren't too different. It pained me too much to look at them for too long, so I turned away from them, heading towards the windows. They were the only source of light, pouring the moon's glow into the shadow filled room we had managed to stumbled upon.
A shaky breath escaped my lips before I had time to hold it in. A small sob came with it, lurching my body forward.
What were we doing? Fighting the Others? The Others that massacred the entire human race? A little bit of training and playing paintball was no match for tsunamis and plagues.
I tore off my helmet and let it fall from my fingers onto the floor.
What the hell were we going to do now? We were stuck, whatever we decided to do.
My bottom lip started to quiver just as strong arms wound around my torso.
Zombie rested his chin on the top of my head and stroked my hair soothingly.
"Hey," he murmured softly.
I melted into him, allowing myself to be weak. I let myself hear the worries my mind spoke of, but somehow, being in Zombie's arms, the worries didn't turn into fears. The fears didn't have their turn controlling me this time. I focused on the movement of his hand through my hair and the steady rhythm of his heart, and suddenly, everything felt better.
"What do we do now?" Teacup asked, fighting against her tears to get the words out.
I squeezed my eyes shut. And there it was.
Ringer let out a loud, exasperated groan.
"I'm done with this shit," she said. "Things aren't adding up. None of us got shot by any of The Others. And that sniper who was shooting at us while we were running? Missed. Every time. It's like they weren't even trying. These things almost wiped out an entire race but can aim straight? I'll tell you what I think this is about," she said, stepping forward, into the middle of the room.
My eyes widened. I had heard stories about Tank, the old member of Squad 59, that went crazy. If Ringer was going to say what I thought she was going to say, I could only assume she was heading in the same direction as Tank.
Zombie seemed to think the same thing, because he carefully unwound himself from me and took a step towards Ringer, holding up a hand.
"Private-"
"No, I know what I'm talking about," she said. "They're the Others. We are the fifth wave."
I didn't hear the jaws drop or the shouts protest as Ringer took out her tracker.
I didn't hear anything aside from the glass of the window breaking.
I didn't even hear the sound of my own bones cracking as I collapsed to the ground.
The last thing I saw was blood pooling out out from under my ribs before darkness covered my world like a curtain.
<><><>
Very late update (I'll try to update more regularly because I love all of you <3) ! Sorry about that! College has been a very... interesting transition.
I've actually been working on this chapter for a good week, writing a little each day. To me, this was one of the most vital chapters. I had to interpret it pretty well from Canary's perspective for the rest of the book to even make sense.
Predictions? Hopes? Dreams?