Suddenly, Xiao Yan's shoulder explodes in agony. His face slams into the bar, and his right arm is wrenched severely behind his back. The torturous pain burrowes deep into the depths of his brain, the tendrils snaking down his spinal cord. He opened his mouth to shout, but lacked the strength to even yelp.
Heine has dislocated his shoulder!
Again!
His shoulder!
Does Heine have some type of grudge specifically against this shoulder?!
Next time, Xiao whines to himself, could you at least change it up and attack another body part?
"The next time I hear you talking about any of my subordinates without my explicit permission, it won't be your arms I screw off, but your heads."
The statement was not a threat, but a clear warning.
Heine isn't speaking to Xiao Yan, but to the two researchers at the end of the bar.
Damn it, Xiao Yan thought, if you are going to stand up for your soldiers, then let me go. I didn't say a word! Xiao Yan feels severely wronged at this moment. His heart is shouting his indignation but the pain strangles his voice.
The guy who fell into the table finally understands. "....subordinates....You are Heine Burton!"
Heine continues to ignore him and leans over Xiao Yan, further twisting his arm out place. The distorted limb sends pain signals shooting all over his body, until his teeth start to chatter.
"Would you prefer I take one of your fingers, or open up your throat and drain your blood?"
Xiao Yan's heart is pounding so hard he is surprised no one has commented on it.
"For ...WHY?..."
Why ...
Xiao Yan is determined to figure out was he has done wrong before Heine murders him.
"Maya, Lily, Sharon...you interests are quite varied."
Heine's eyes swept over Sharon's figure.
Sharon went to get up to assist Xiao Yan, but the mere sight of Heine's ferocious glare paralyzed her.
What the hell, thought Xiao. What about Maya and Sharon? What do any of those people have to do with Liv?
Xiao Yan is so confused, he can only imagine how complex his expression is at the moment.
His thoughts were moving and sliding over the other in attempt to find a relevant direction to Heine's accusations.
Ah! I get it, Xiao thought.
It must all have to do with that accidental kiss at the power plant.
Heine was just waiting until the mission was over. Now that Maya and Liv are not here he can take his revenge.
Oh, God...he doesn't even remember touching Heine's lips.
Did he really survive two crashes, numerous zombies, and Surge assassins all to lose his life over that kiss that didn't even really happen.
It was an accident!
If there was an afterlife then he'd rather be a zombie. Suddenly, someone rushed over to the bar and yelled out, "Boss!"
it was Liv.
She ran up to Heine, recognizing Xiao Yan despite his face being squashed against the bar. She attempted to still his arm and prevent it dislodging from the socket completely.
"It is not Xiao Yan, he is not the one who spread the rumors. Please release him"
Heine's eyes are still steady and dim. The moment that he releases his hold, Xiao Yan crumples to the ground. Liv grabs a hold of him.
"They are too noisy."
Heine's gaze slides through the bar as though his eyes hold the power of life and death.
"There is a mission tomorrow. I should probably go." Glancing at Heine and Liv, Sharon quickly departed.
Even after Sharon vacated, Xiao was still under Heine's heavy gaze.
"You want to live or die?" Heine finally spoke.
"....live." Xiao choked the word out.
"Then remember this lesson"
Heine's gaze drags along Xiao Yan with the sharpness of a knife's edge.
Burton's words echoed through Xiao's min.
What lesson?
This was the price for sharing a drink with Sharon?
OH! God, he hadn't even thought about what could have happened with Sharon!
Such a shame, but Xiao knows he wouldn't have lasted 10 minutes exposed to Sharon hormones.
Had he gone to bed with Sharon, he would have endured far worse than a dislocated shoulder. It was in that moment that Xiao understood the meaning behind Heine's warning of 'want to live or die'.
The ruthless way Heine delivered that message has left a deep impression on Xiao Yan.
He understands, that the extreme pleasure of the x-virus is met with extreme torture and hellish suffering. Heine Burton just pulled him back from the brink of falling into that trap.
Despite the pain...Xiao is at least grateful to have not fallen.
Still...It's just too damn painful!
With no further words, Heine turned on his heel and left the bar.
Typical Heine Burton. Appear with stealth and leave with arrogance.
Watching his figure retreat, Xiao felt his heart settle down in his chest.
"I'm sorry Xiao. Endure it!"
Liv's palm pressed on his shoulder.
"Endure?" The words had not yes fallen out of his mouth when a 'crack' sounded. Xiao shouted loudly as the pain seemed to drag his soul out from his body.
"Okay. You're alright. Aren't you a man? You can stand a little pain." Xiao now felt wounded in a whole different way. Liv's bedside manner was a bit of a mixed bag.
She laughed lowly, "No one is this world has ever kissed the boss, it is a miracle that you are still alive."
Xiao rubbed his aching jaw and moved his newly aligned arm. Liv had done a good job.
Definitely worthy of the special task force.
Xiao is now certain that next time he runs into Heine, it would be best if he found a place to hide. Liv lowered her head, the concern on her face for Xiao Yan dissolving into a cold fury.
She angled close to the researcher and flashed a beaming grin. "I seem to remember refusing your advances last week. But when I return from my mission, everyone is talking about how I crawled in your bed. Care to shed some light on that?"
Liv's finger grazed his forehead and he pressed himself against the bar in terror, shrinking into a near fetal position.
"Go ... leave!" He barely squeezed out audible words.
"You want me to go away? But why?" Liv grabbed a glass laying on the floor and squeezed. The sound of the glass shattering in her bare hand rang with an extraordinary clarity. "I thought we were lovers."
"I'm so sorry. I beg you...please."
The man was near tears.
"What are you sorry for?"
"I... I shouldn't have lied...shouldn't have said... and I got...to.. bed..."
Liv grabbed at his groin and spoke softly, "with something so small and desperate, I wonder if anyone can even see it."
Sitting on the ground in defeat, the man doesn't even have the nerve to look up.
Xiao Yan sighed, seems he was very unlucky. That he could talk so big after a couple drinks is really something. Could there be such as idiot in the research department; someone who dared to provoke not only a special forces soldier, but one of Heine Burton's.
Liv walked with Xiao out of the bar and smiled mockingly at him, "Shall I escort you to the medical center?"
Xiao Yan smiled feeling like a damsel in distress and Liv his strong knight in armor.
"I...there is no need." Xiao maneuvered his shoulders deliberately. The discomfort had dissipated. "But, your Boss is really scary."
Liv sighed meaningfully, "Don't blame Colonel Burton. Without him, none of us would be alive."
Liv didn't need to elaborate further, Xiao Yan also knows that the bloody rain experienced by special task forces is of unparalleled cruelty.
"But I do feel that, for some reason, Colonel Burton was in a bad mood. That's why he gave you a little lesson."
"So just because he was in a bad mood, he decided to chastise me."
Xiao Yan rolled his head up to look at the ceiling. He would rather console himself with the fact that the Colonel was showing him the consequences of being lured by Sharon as opposed to seeking revenge on him.
"Maybe the reason for his bad mood is you? Think about what he said before he left the bar, it was all for your protection. Don't expect the Colonel to treat you like a fine piece of porcelain. He would rather torture his men himself if it will prevent him having to see them suffer and die at the hands of someone else. It took me working with him for years to understand his style of doing things. He won't act gently to spare you pain, he is more concerned with his lessons being meaningful and memorable. "
Liv's words silence Xiao.
Indeed, it seems Heine Burton is such a man.
Xiao Yan also know that he could randomly point at any member of the special forces and they would have experienced pain far worse than Heine dislocating his arm.
"I hear you and the team are leaving the base tomorrow." Liv interrupted his thoughts.
"So well informed, does that mean you are going to escort me there personally?"
"You are a funny guy, but we have a mission in two days. I heard that a research vehicle lost contact with base 14 this morning. They can't even locate them. They were class A researchers. Although we haven't known each other long, I hope you stay safe. Otherwise, the only guy to remember my name will be gone."
Despite her light tone, LIv's expression is solemn. It is clear she considers Xiao a friend.
Xiao Yan, rubbed his chin as he thought. "Sounds like the Surge are targeting people with remarkable research ability. Since I am just a B class researcher I'm sure that they have marked my craft as one to avoid since it would be a waste of energy and resources."
Liv laughed, "I haven't ever met someone like you, bragging about their incompetence."
"Well Class B trainees are the epitome of incompetence." Xiao Yan let out an exaggerated sigh.
"Well, I will tell you something Xiao Yan. I have a feeling that you will become a top researcher. Linking up that complicated terminal. I hope one day to hear you have found a way to extend the lives of those of us infected with the x-virus. Then one day, I won't have to think of every day as my last."
Liv's words tightened Xiao's heart.
Being able to look toward the future is a wonderful thing.
"If I become a top researcher, maybe they will send Colonel Burton to guard me. Then I can order him about." Xiao Yan's imagination takes off.
"Keep dreaming. With so many elites in the special forces, it won't necessarily be Colonel Burton."
"But there are none as arrogant as him.
"Of course there is." Liv paused for a beat. "Haven't you heard of Jane Wallis? He used to guard a military Colonel who worked at the government. One day he directly cut off his nose. Of course they were able to repair it with synthetics, but Jane Wallis earned the reputation of being unpredictable and crazy."
Xiao remembered that Sharon was a member of Jane Wallis' team. Guess there was no shortage of madmen in the special forces.
Xiao Yan exhaled dramatically. "It seems the special task force is quite a...special group of people. In comparison Mark now seems quite sweet and cuddly. "
Liv smiled mysteriously at his remark.
"The sweetest is not Mark. You have a gift waiting for you. Come with me."
Liv brought Xiao to her dorm. Xiao deliberately teased her. "So what is this gift? Is it you?!"
"This is your gift." Liv ignored Xiao's joke and placed a glass jar in his hands.
The bottom of the jar was covered in sand, and a small white conch shell sat inside. Xiao Yan turned the container and saw movement from beneath the shell.
"This...isn't this a hermit crab? How crazy, I was just reading about these in the library database."
Xiao Yan was totally enamored by the small creature.
"We picked it up on the beach. You said that you liked the ocean and marine animals."
"Thank you Liv. I love you too. I'll look at the database and see how to care for it."
"Don't be so quick to declare your love for me." Liv gave Xiao Yan a pointed stare before continuing.
" It is from the Colonel."
****Thank you so much to those that voted. I am very grateful, it really helps to know the story is being enjoyed. ****