Lazerus popped his head out the door, grabbed Jack, and quickly dragged him back inside. He had come out of the kitchen when he had noticed Jack's shout. He had covered his eyes and slowly made his way towards the door. Once the light had vanished, he had quickly grabbed Jack. He made eye contact with Andy as he did. Shit, he thought, why is he with them? there would be time to ask questions later. If they made it out of this. Lazerus dragged Jack back to everyone else in the kitchen.
"We're under attack," Lazerus spoke quickly. "We need to grab everything and go. Sol, Nerida, get the others. Jack and I'll handle provisions. Use the com to keep up with each other. Five minutes, GO!"
Sol and Nerida sprung into action. Sol raced down the hall and burst into Lightning's room. She woke her quickly and explained the situation. Lightning got to packing. Nerida grabbed Ann from the communications room and did the same. As Sol raced passes Ann and Nerida on her way to her room, the first wave came. She heard Lazerus in her ear.
"DUCK!"
Training sent her down onto her stomach in seconds. Bullets struck the building on all sides. They struck the outer wall and slipped into the house like a hot knife through butter. Drywall and dust rained all around them. The rat-tat-tat of machine gun fire was almost defining. Sol had never gunfire this loud before. She would soon see why. A couple of the bullets that struck the wall where the size of flash drives, and when they struck, smoke filled the air. Sol's ears where ringing, but the sounds of fire had stopped. She slowly crawled to her feet and looked around. She was glad to see Ann and Nerida doing the same.
"EXPLODING BULLETS!" Ann panicked. "WHO THE FUCK MAKES EXPLODING BULLETS!"
Sol didn't bother answering. She took one look at the football sized holes in the wall, and ran to her room. She quickly pulled out her weapons and strapped them to her body. She knew she was going to have to fight her way out. Once she was completely packed, she threw her bag onto her back and dashed back into the hallway. She could see the others already standing near the back door. As she neared them, she realized she was missing something. THE CHIP! She had left her little science experiment in the kitchen. She threw her bag at Lazerus, told him to go, and flew back down the hall.
Sol dove into the kitchen. There was debris from the bullets everywhere. She searched the kitchen table and was relieved to find her chip and the box exactly where she had left them. she dusted them off and put them in her left hand. She stopped by the door of the kitchen and peaked out. It was quiet outside. No bullets, nothing from the com, no shouted orders. Sol looked around. Her visibility was limited, but it looked like they were in the clear for now. She stepped out into the hallway.
"Where is the boy?" The voice was monotone, but familiar.
Sol raised her hands and slowly turned around. What she saw made her stop dead in her tracks. Andy stood behind her, guns aimed straight at her head. The tears where flowing before she could stop them. Suddenly, Andy looked behind her and fired his gun. Sol had just enough time to hit the ground before the bullets exploded. She crawled on her hands and knees till she could see what it was Andy was suddenly aiming at. It was Nerida. Simultaneously, Nerida dodged the bullets and threw a couple of knives at Andy. He batted them away like they were nothing, but had to stop shooting in the process.
"SOL!" Nerida shouted, motioning for her to run towards her. "LET'S GO!"
Sol leapt to her feet and ran. She had just made it to Nerida when the bullets started again. They managed to make it into the back hallway covered in dust, but uninjured. Jack was waiting for them there. He opened the back door for them as he saw them approach. They were almost outside when it happened. Jack saw the grenade roll down the hallway after the girls. With superhuman speed, he shoved the girls out the door and slammed the door shut. Jack placed his back against the door to try to contain the blast. BOOM! As the smoke cleared, Sol got to her feet, whipped the soot from her eyes, and assessed the damage. That's when she saw him.
"Help," Jack muttered.
Jack lay on his back a couple feet from her. The wooden door had splintered during the explosion, causing large chunks of the wood to embed themselves into Jack's back. He was pale, covered in shrapnel, and badly burnt. He would probably die if they didn't find help for him. Nerida moved before she could. She dashed to his side and tried her best to hoist him onto her back. Sol saw this and raced to help. Between the two of them, they managed to lift him up just enough to drag him. They started to run towards the forest. It was hard to run with Jack between them, but adrenaline gave them unknown powers. They burst into the clearing where the helicopter was sitting. An epic battle between their friends and an army of Templars was raging.
The trio pushed their way through the fighting towards the open door of the helicopter. The others saw them coming and began to retreat towards the helicopter. Sol and Nerida tried their best to defend themselves as they tried to join them. Someone crashed into Sol's bad arm sending a shockwave of pain through her body. Lazerus was the first to reach the helicopter doors. He swung them open, hopped on, and reached over the edge to help the others. Ann and Lightning stayed on the ground to defend the trio as they struggled to get Jack on the helicopter. Lazerus hooked his hands under Jack's arms and pulled.
It took a moment, but they managed to get Jack aboard. Nerida and Sol, followed closely by Lightning and Ann, got in after him. Once everyone was in, they slammed the doors shut and hoped they would hold back the army of Templars while they tried to get the helicopter off the ground. Ann opened the bullet proof window on the door, stuck one of the mini guns threw the opening and opened fire. The Templars scrambled away from the shower of bullets.
"Let's get this thing in the air," Ann shouted over the sounds of the gun.
"Shoot, Ace," Lazerus said as he bent down to examine Jack. "Don't die on me."
"There's not much we can do, Lazerus," Sol bent down next to him and gently put a hand on his shoulder. "You need to fly us out of here. Lightning and I'll take care of him till we get somewhere where we can treat him."
Lazerus saw the sadness in her eyes. Sol didn't want to ask him to leave Jack, but they didn't have much of a choice. He nodded and got to his feet. Sol placed Jack's head in her lap and called for Lightning to help her. Lazerus hopped into the cockpit. Jack had taught him to fly once, he really hoped he remembered how to do it. He flipped a couple switches and the engine roared to life. Suddenly, the mini gun exploded and Ann screamed. Nerida rushed to her side and found her dazed, but uninjured. The shredded metal of the gun had fused to the door and completely blocked the window. Lazerus started to lift the helicopter into the air. A loud band outside startled them.
"There's something hanging off of the copter," Lazerus called back to the others. "It's affecting the balance of the propeller. Can anyone see what it is?"
The window prevented them from being able to see outside, so Nerida swung the door open. She looked over the edge and cursed. The Templars had thrown a grappling hook and where trying to hold them back by sheer numbers. She watched in horror as she caught sight of Andy climbing up the rope. They were only about ten feet off the ground, but falling from this height could still kill him if he fell the wrong way. This thought stalled Nerida's hand as she went to cut the rope. That second of hesitation was all it took. Andy reached up and took a hold of the edge of the door frame with his right hand.
"ANDY!" Lightning screamed as she caught sight of him for the first time.
Lightning abandoned Jack and Sol and raced towards the door. Her shout jarred Nerida from her trance. She knew Andy was their captain, she knew how much they all cared about him, she had missed him just as much as the others, but she knew it was too dangerous to let him get into the helicopter. This isn't the Andy I know and love. Before Lightning could grab him and pull him in, Nerida raised her glaive. In one clean swipe, she severed his right hand. She watched, slightly horrified, as her captain fell towards his new teammates. Then she severed the rope and closed the door. As she turned to face Lightning, she rehearsed the excuse she would give for her actions, but the look on Lightning's face stalled her tong. Without a word, she moved to help Ann into a chair. Lightning blinked a couple times, then turned back to Jack.
They had a moment of silence for their lost friend. It ended in a fire ball. Sol would later remember hearing the rocket approach, the one that hit the helicopter's tail and sent them spiraling to the ground. She would remember clinging to Jack, trying to protect him from the inevitable death the crash would bring them all. Lastly, she would remember Lazerus's face as he grabbed them and threw them from the soon to be destroyed vehicle.
Sol landed hard on her side. She slid a couple feet, spraying dirt everywhere, before coming to a stop near the base of a tree. She slowly sat up and looked around. Jack had slipped from her arms during the crash, but he landed nearby. Nerida was to her right, helping Ann to her feet. Lightning was moaning on the ground a couple feet away from them. A small pool of blood had begun to form around her left side. From what Sol could see, it there was a piece of the door stabbed into her. The Trees in front of her where ablaze, and cradling the burning wreckage of the helicopter. Lazerus's face appeared before her again.
"Can you walk?" Lazerus asked as he offered her his hand.
"I think so," Sol climbed slowly to her feet.
"We need to hide somewhere," Lazerus walked over to check on Jack. "We're less than a mile or so away from the den. They'll be here soon to finish us off. I think that tunnel Maria found is around here somewhere. We can hide there."
"Okay," Sol nodded. "Take Jack. I'll grab whatever supplies survived the crash and follow you."
Lazerus nodded and picked up Jack. Sol found most of their bags full of weapons and other equipment intact, but most of their food and clothing had been destroyed. She what she could carry and called out for Ann to do the same. Ann jogged over, limping slightly. Between the two of them they managed to grab the all surviving bags. Lazerus lead the way with Jack thrown over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Nerida followed, helping the half-conscious Lightning walk. They had to move slowly through the jungle. As they got closer to the tunnel, Maria jumped out of Sol's jacket and found the entrance for them. They had just managed to get everyone inside when the sounds of the approaching Templars reached their ears.
Lazerus and Ann had just enough time to throw some branches over the opening before the first pair of shiny black boots appeared above them. They crowded together in the shadows, trying desperately to still their labored breathing. They could hear the dead leaves and branches cracking under the Templars' feet as they circled the entrance. Suddenly, the noise stopped.
"Pull out!" the voice from above was full of static, it had to be from a radio. "Target one has been acquired. Target two is presumed dead. I repeat, we have the chip and are clear to go."
The footsteps retreated from the area, leaving a thick silence in the air. Lazerus wasn't sure if he should be relieved they were leaving, or horrified they had gotten part of what they had come for. He decided horrified when he saw the shocked look on Sol's face. She was staring, wide eyed, into her sling. He caught tears in her eyes just before she spoke.
"I... I dropped it," Sol muttered, horrified. "I dropped my chip and the counter measure I created. They got them. I put us all in danger to get them back and I just... drop them."
"Don't blame yourself, Sol," Lazerus put a hand on her shoulder. "At least we all got away."
"But Jack got...," Sol froze. "Oh god, Jack."
She scrambled to his side, her guilt growing with every passing second. Lazerus followed after her, worried. Sol grabbed Jack's hand as Lazerus reached down to check his pulse. His hand was cold, his pulse was faint. Sol scanned his chest and found a piece of metal. A chunk of his precious helicopter had punctured one of his lungs and was slowly killing him. The only reason he wasn't dead now was that the same metal that was killing him was also keeping the hole in his lung plugged up. Lazerus cursed and picked him up gently.
"We need to get to the back of the tunnel," Lazerus said and he started to walk into the darkness. "I can't heal him here and risk the light being seen from the outside."
"Light?" Sol questioned as she followed him.
They moved together through the tunnel. Nerida and Ann grabbed the surviving flashlights and followed after them, helping Lightning. As they walked, Sol couldn't help but marvel at the carved figures on the walls. After a few minutes of hiking, they found the back wall of the unfinished tunnel. There sat the carving of the waterfall Andy had found so long ago. Lazerus placed Jack down against the wall and carefully opened his shirt. For once, He was glad Jack always wore shirts with buttons. It had been white once, but now his shirt was a sickly red as deep as the skin of a black cherry. Lazerus took a deep breath, placed a hand on the chunk of metal lodged in Jack's chest, and pulled. With a terrible squelch, it came free. Jack's body began to convulse violently the second it was out of his chest. Lazerus placed his free hand over the wound.
Jack's body calmed as Lazerus's hand began to glow a brilliant gold. Sol watched in shock as the glow spread from Lazerus till it had enveloped all of Jack. Then the markings on the walls took up the light and began to pulse with the same golden glow. A strange energy filled the air, like the electricity in the wind right before a lightning storm. As the glowing intensified, Sol could just barely see Jack's wounds healing. As suddenly as it had begun, the glowing stopped, leaving slight traces of the energy behind. No one spoke as they waited to see the results. Then Jack sat up, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Sol turned away from the group.
"What happened?" Jack muttered, rubbing his eyes. "I feel like I've been sleeping for ages. Frankly, I feel great."
"Good to have you back, buddy," Lazerus smiled as he extended a hand out to him.
"Back from where?" Jack asked as he let Lazerus pull him to his feet.
"You were... dying, Jack," Nerida stammered. "And now... uh... wow..."
"Don't tell me you..." Jack exclaimed.
Jack looked down at his ruined shirt and perfectly uninjured chest. He groaned. Sol heard the reaction and walked back over. She also knew what was going on. She had only felt that presence once before, but she doubted she would ever forget it. She had no idea they could be used for healing though. She wondered where it was hidden.
"I did what I had to," Lazerus shrugged.
"That's against the rules," Sol crossed her arms. "Pieces of Eden are forbidden. Using them is a crime against the brotherhood."
"What!?" Nerida and Ann exclaimed simultaneously.
"You know the Ankh is only to be used in extreme emergencies, Laz!" Jack reprimanded him.
"This was an emergency, Jack," Lazerus countered. "I wasn't going to let you die. Besides, there's nothing dangerous or destructive about the Ankh. It can't harm us."
"Still!" Sol got in his face. "That kind of power shouldn't be used. It was an Apple of Eden that got us into this mess in the first place. Those things can't be trusted."
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Jack crossed his arms as well.
"I saved him," Lazerus spat. "And that's all that matters."
"Look, I won't condone what you did," Sol sighed. "Just... don't do it again."
"Okay, Mom," Lazerus snapped back.
"We have bigger problems to deal with right now," Nerida cut in.
"Like, what are we gonna do about Andy?" Ann finished her sentence.
That stopped the conversation dead in its tracks. Lazerus walked over to Lightning and began to manually patch her up. Sol sat down against one of the walls and buried her face into Maria's fur. Nerida and Ann sat down on either side of her, wanting to help her, but unsure of what to say. Once Lazerus had finished stitching and bandaging Lightning's side, he walked back down the tunnel and returned with some branches and a fire-starting kit. He placed the wood in the center of the room and quickly started a fire. He then walked over to Sol and sat down in front of her.
"We'll stay here for the night," Lazerus said. "In the morning, we can find a better place to stay."
"We need to go after Andy," Nerida shifted to face both Sol and Lazerus. "He has to be under the spell of one of those mind control chips."
"Yeah," Ann agreed and she shifted to close the circle. "I've known Andy for years. The creed is everything to him. He'd rather die than betray it."
"I'd need to make another deactivator then," Sol looked up at the group.
"Can you do that without the original chip?" Jack asked as he slowly approached.
"Not perfectly," Sol shook her head. "But I can try."
"First, we need to find better shelter," Lazerus reiterated. "You can't work in the dark, Sol."
"Joy told me there was a backup den someplace in the woods," Jack's face fell. "I'm guessing she's dead now, but we can make use of the den. I'm pretty sure I know where it is."
"That's right," Sol's face paled and her eyes watered. "Joy's not here with us. Oh, no."
"She might have escaped," Ann placed a reassuring hand on Sol's shoulder. "Don't lose hope yet."
"In the meantime," Lazerus laid down on his back. "Let's try to get some rest."
No one had noticed how tired they were until Lazerus suggested they sleep. With the adrenaline out of their systems, and the sounds of crickets all around them, their eyes began to droop. Nerida and Ann crawled off together to the other side of the cave and curled up head to head by the fire. Jack took a place against one of the walls, preferring to sleep sitting up in case of an emergency. Sol didn't have the energy to move from where she was, so, though the idea gave her pause, she laid down right where she was. This placed her back to back with Lazerus. The idea of sleeping near him sent a strange shiver down her spine, but she was too tired to move. Soon, everyone was fast asleep.