Boots on the Ground - Part 3
If you’ve just jumped in, head here for Part 1
Part 3
At the last hut between herself and the tank, Baker stopped. She leaned her back against the mud wall and closed her eyes.
“All I need to do is let them know it’s me,” she whispered. “Then file a loss report for my armour, probably get docked some pay, and everything will be normal again.” But would it be normal again now that she’d seen the other side? She swallowed.
As soon as the tank stopped moving, the clacks and thumps of soldiers marching in armour became audible. If it was her platoon approaching, it wouldn’t take long to clear out the enclave. The greenies were defenceless; they wouldn’t stand a chance. How could she stay here and let them be slaughtered? She swallowed again.
From a position out of her view, a soldier fired. The pulses of weapon blasts rang out over the tank. Somewhere, a child screamed.
“Shit! I can’t let this happen.”
Baker bolted forward, away from the hut and out into the open. Using her experience instead of a heads-up display, she evaluated the situation in a split second.
The scene before her was exactly as she expected. The tank, parked on top of a collapsed hut, provided cover for the armoured soldiers as they advanced. Already, many green bodies lay bleeding on the ground, their red blood a sharp contrast to their verdant skin. Dust from the tank’s entrance floated down, adding a layer of grey over everything. In a moment, the once happy little village hidden in a cavern had become a death trap.
What could she do? She didn’t have her armour, just her ordinary organic form. Standing up to her colleagues didn’t seem likely. Besides, they were just following orders—she’d followed similar orders dozens of times.
A panicked screech sounded from somewhere nearby. Her eyes found the source. One of the greenie children lay on the ground ten paces away. He looked at her with wide eyes, blood and dust marring the smooth green of his face.
She darted his way. Her movement drew the attention of the soldiers who didn’t recognize her out of uniform. Laser pulses hit the ground behind her. No one shouted at her to stop or give up—they had lumped her with the cavern’s inhabitants, and this was an execution.
Skidding to her knees, she ignored the burn of the rough ground as it wore through her pants. She reached the boy, scooped him up in her arms, and ran back to the cover of the hut’s wall.
Panting, she stopped behind the mud wall for a second time. How the pulses had missed her, she didn’t understand. Her colleagues were good shots—and they had the AI of their armour to help with their aim.
The boy shifted and put his arms around her neck. Burying his face into her chest, he sobbed. He felt so tiny and warm in her arms. She wanted to tell him everything would be okay but that would be a lie.
“Sun said there’s an exit.” She licked her lips and glanced around for other greenies to follow. She saw no one.
Staying put was certain death for both her and the boy. Gritting her teeth, she sprinted back towards Sun’s house. Her legs churned, propelling her forward as fast as she could go holding the boy. Ahead, the hut beckoned her. She could make it.
A blast wave hit her followed by the distinctive whoosh of a concussion grenade. As it propelled her body forward, she lost her grip on the boy. She hit the ground, and everything went black.
Baker woke with a jolt; the bloody fan in her helmet was screeching again. She thumped the helmet, and the sound subsided to its normal annoying level. Looking up at the ceiling, she let the HUD calculate the jump she’d need to make to get out of the room she’d fallen into.
“Wait!” She sat upright and glanced around. “I’m back in my armour.”
Her heart raced as she got to her feet.
“Sun? Are you there?”
She switched to thermal imaging, then night vision. No one was in the room with her. She swallowed. There wasn’t even a corridor leading off the room.
“Did I imagine it?”
The greenie village remained fresh in her mind. It had seemed so real. Sun…that child…the attack.
“Baker, report,” a voice said over her external comms. It was Lieutenant Oswiu, and he sounded impatient.
“Baker here.” Licking her lips, she tried to think of a way to explain her circumstance.
“I see you shut down the signal,” Lieutenant Oswiu said. “Good job.”
“Thank you, sir.” Baker wondered if there was a village hidden somewhere in the wreckage of the domes. Part of her hoped there was.
“Pickup at the drop point in ten minutes.” He sounded as sure of himself as he always did.
“On my way.” Baker took one more glance around the room before jumping back up to the main corridor. At a jog, she set off toward her ride home.