Xiao rushed through the assassins without looking back. He felt the hairs at the nape of his neck raise as the wind from a blade cut through the air, the sword barely missing him. He knew from the sharp clash of weapons that Maya had stopped their strike from landing.
On his way to the control room he passed through an intersection where a zombie, lumbering around the platform, quickly spotted Xiao Yan speeding in his direction
"Oh shit!"
This is bad!
Xiao Yan desperately tore through the corridors. He knew that Maya wasn't there to save him, he could only keep up his current speed and pray that the control room door wasn't closed. Otherwise, he would become zombie food.
Feeling the zombies getting closer, Xiao picked up the pace, he had never run so fast in his life.
His labored breaths, his pounding heart, none of that mattered. Life was in front of him and death behind him.
He sees the door to the control room is open. Xiao Yan's heart sings with hope. He has to move faster.
He quickly slipped inside the control room and slammed his hand on the button next to the door. As the doors closed a zombie attempted to enter through the narrow opening, its arms grasping at him through the door. Xiao Yan swallowed his fear and scanned the room, he didn't know where he found the courage to not faint on the spot. The zombie eventually slid the doors open enough to squeeze in. Xiao Yan unlatched the arsenal cabinet that housed the weapons. All that was left was a gun and a knife. Xiao held the sharp knife with both hands and rushed full force toward the zombie
He couldn't look at its horrid expression and bloodthirsty eyes, he only knew he had to succeed. With the knife, he cut down the zombie, the corpse's pus like fluid splashing onto him. He raised his hand to assess the damage he had dealt. He couldn't remember the moment he struck, he only knew that the zombies head was falling. His hands trembled with the adrenaline load, and he couldn't hold anything. The blade clattered to the floor. Xiao Yan slowly dragged his feet back to the door. He kicked the zombie out of the sliding door. The door slid cleanly shut.
He had to move fast. Not giving himself a moment to think, Xiao sat at the main control unit and accessed the terminal. The was the first time he had connected with the military control system.
Calm down, Xiao thought, you know this. You've got this.
He linked up and then went through countless data channels. The platform, powered up instantly and Xiao Yan smoothly connected with the No. 2 base.
"This is Xiao Yan of No 47 platform. I am a technical reserve for the Central Academy of Sciences. 1d1665. I am with Colonel Burton's team. we were ambushed by the Surge while executing our mission to rescue General Manson. Our aircrafthas crashed, we need a craft dispatched here immediately."
"XIao Yan, what is your current situation, please report." When the voice of the liaison officer came through, Xiao almost cried in relief. He slowed his breathing and reported the situation as calmly as possible.
"The center will send a special task force to support you. It should arrive within the hour."
Xiao Yan closed his eyes and exhaled. He made contact. He switched the surveillance screen to a different channel and monitored the scene. The situation he saw, terrified him.
Maya was blocking the attack from one assassin when the other assailant took the opportunity and sliced his blade downward toward Maya. The movement was swift and severe, cutting deep into Maya's left shoulder. Disregarding the pain, Maya fought on. As he was mid strike, the first assassin crept behind him and slashed through his still healing shoulder. Maya moved effortlessly through the agony. As his left arm was cut off, he lifted his blade above the head of the 2nd assassin, felling him with the strike.
Xiao sat paralyzed in horror as he watched Maya's bleeding shoulder. The limb was completely detached and lying on the ground. He stared at the surveillance monitor in shock, his sight soaked with Maya's blood. His whole world was drenched red.
"Damn it."
Xiao calmly shut off the other nodes with zombies in them, isolating the power in the platform. He removed his terminal connector and pulled the gun from the weapons arsenal in the control room. He checked the power source at the buttstock and turned on the target-locking function. Running out of the room, he bolted through the passageway and headed over to where Maya was fighting. He saw Maya's lightning fast blade slash at the assassin's neck. The strike should have been unavoidable, but Maya's balance was thrown off by his missing limb.
The assailant, lifts his left arm and evades the move. Maya's blade slices down on the killer's left wrist. He cuts off the wrist completely but as the assassin fell he swung his right arm and cut through Maya's ankle, severing the limb.
Maya landed on the floor, blood rapidly pooling around him.
Maya!" Xiao was screaming as he ran up.
The assassin lifted his blade again, attempting to cut through Maya's neck. Xiao raised his gun and fired, the gun automatically locking its target. The blade's course was interrupted as the bullet split through the air.
"I told you to stay put!" Maya roared at Xiao Yan.
Without thinking, Xiao continued to fire off three shots. As the assailant dodged the shots, Xiao Yan struggled to calm himself.
With the next shot, he aimed at his wrist. As the assassins focused on avoiding that shot, Xiao took advantage of the opening to shoot at his head.
The shot rang through the air and the assassin's head burst open, the rest of his body dropping to the ground.
Xiao's shoulders shook, he still holds a shooting position with a stunned expression
"...you have been trained to shoot?" Maya asked slowly, leaning against the wall.
Xiao Yan was able to recover and rushed to Maya. This guy lost his left arm and right leg, but still sharply questioned him.
"This kind of gun... only commanders are equipped with these. Where did you get it from? How did you know how to use it?"
"It is the same kind of gun Colonel Burton issued me."
"Then it had to have been his own gun. I can't believe he gave his own gun for you to use." Maya shook his head at the revelation, then attempted to steady his badly wounded body on his blade. He struggled to stand up. Xiao Yan, hurried over to assist. Even pressed against Xiao, he could barely stand.
"I don't see any zombies... You got lucky."
"I closed off the other channels, and isolated the one I needed to get back here. The passageway here was clear of zombies." Xiao cracked a half smile and attempted to help Maya move forward.
"I seem to remember telling you to stay in the control center and not open the door until rescue arrived."
"Yes."
"I am above you in rank, and you are just a reserve. You have violated a direct order from a superior." Maya's voice was heavy.
"So how do you plan to punish me?" Xiao Yan pushed Maya into the control center and closed the door.
"Hmm...kill you." Xiao Yan wasn't in the mood to joke with him.
Maya lazily lay on the ground and looked over to see the severed head of a zombie.
"Don't tell me... that is your handiwork?"
"It is." Xiao Yan lifted Maya's upper body. Wrapping his arms around his shoulder, he dragged him from floor and deposited him on the sofa. Leaning over him, he began to examine his wounds.
The broken part of the arm and lower leg have healed and the bleeding has stopped completely.
Xiao Yan just stood there, unable to speak at the sight.
He remembered watching the moment Maya's arm was severed, he felt as though the world had cracked open.
He cannot fully face the events. In Maya's presence he feels powerless and weak, not qualified to even sympathize with his suffering. He wouldn't twist his face in pity to ask about Maya's pain. Clearly Maya is in excruciating pain, a level that a lifetime cannot erase.
"I don't know anything about connecting the nerves in artificial limbs. Hey tech soldier, you should know, wasn't that your research project?" Maya kicked Xiao with his good leg.
"I'm not a technical soldier, I'm just a reserve. I don't have a research project, I'm just a student."
"How long until the craft gets here?"
"Within the hour."
"Ugh, I hope the Surge doesn't send more people with bombs in the meantime." Maya chuckled. Clearly, for this man, life and death don't occupy the same mental space as other people.
"Anyway, I only have about 3 years left, maybe I can get off the front line with this heroic injury?"
Xiao clenched his hand in a fist at his side. Maya must have devoted years of training to reach his level of skill. The mores years and experience he had, the less time was left for him.
Xiao stood in stony silence, the implications of this world twisting through his head. Maya looked at him with a very serious expression.
"Hey, how's my hair?" Maya began to tidy his unruly strands.
"Your hair is very beautiful."
"You think so?"
"Well, the first time I saw you at the restaurant in the base, I was attracted by your hair."
Maya spoke in a very earnest tone. "Really?"
Maya's voice has raised several octaves, childish vanity overtaking the wounded warrior. Xiao smiled inwardly. Such a ferociously skilled soldier could turn into a vain idiot at the mere mention of his hair.
"Really." Xiao Yan answered with a serious note in his voice. He carefully and gently tangled his fingers into Maya's hair. The tresses were soft and silky on his fingers, Xiao felt tears building up in his sinuses.
The communicator on Maya's wrist sounded and a cold command chirped from the device.
"Open the door."
"Xiao, open it. It's the Boss." Maya raised his chin and his eyes motioned toward the control room door.
Xiao hurriedly pressed the button and Heine entered, still carrying the container with Manson's head. His gaze was cold and murderous.
When he saw Maya's condition Xiao expected to see his expression shift, but his face remained as stoic as ever.
"Hey Boss! I'm still alive! They are all dead." Maya waved his hand with a bit of flourish and pride.
Heine's gaze rippled briefly, a flash of sentimental softness flickered and then his eyes settled back into placid pools.
"Though one of them was killed by Xiao Yan. Without this guy, I'd be dead."
Maya's expression is intensely serious as though it is of great import that he let Heine know that Xiao saved him.
"No ...It was Maya who was protecting me the whole time."
As he spoke Heine approached him and stretched his hand to the nape of Xiao Yan's neck, pulling him to his chest.