Remy
When everyone had scattered, I grabbed Kelsey and ran, following Linette to the barn. To my complete shock and awe, I watched Linette jump on a Baelese male’s back as he cornered two humans, hold on to his waist with her thighs and use her entire upper body and all her weight to snap his neck with a ferocious yell. That’s right. Linette killed an alien with her bare hands. When he crumpled in a heap, she slung his rifle over her head and grabbed a handgun from his waist, sliding it toward me through the dirt.
“Go!” She pointed to the barn.
I squatted, setting down Kelsey to grab the gun, then took the girl by the hand and ran into the barn. I took her to the farthest stall and set Kelsey in a corner filled with hay.
“I need you to sit and be very still and very quiet, okay, sweetie?” As she sat, her back in the corner, I piled hay around her. “It’s going to be like hide-and-seek. You stay hidden until I come get you.”
“Don’t leave me,” she said in her tiny voice.
“I’m going to be right here, keeping watch,” I promised. Then I thought of something. Voice control. I grabbed the edge of my dress, the part of the seam that was about to unravel, and I tore. Small strips ripped off, and I bunched them with my fingers, wetting them with saliva.
“Let’s put these in your ears,” I told her. Kelsey was a good sport. She let me do it, pressing the cloth as far in as I could, and then piling more hay around her.
My whole body was trembling as I finished covering her and went to the stall’s door to watch and listen. I balled up tiny strips of cloth and wet them pushing them into my ears and praying it would work. Through the cloth, I heard muffled running and shouting, and gunfire ringing out, making me jump. When footsteps got too close, I cowered into my stall door, peeking through a crack to see Linette.
“Psst!” I said, waving my arm. She ran over and I gave her to two pieces of cloth, pointing to my ears.
She nodded, grinning wickedly, and grabbed them from me, then went into the stall beside me. I looked down at my gun, checking to make sure the safety was off. I’d never been good with guns. When I was at Dugway, the guys tried to teach me, using blanks in a makeshift underground range. My main issues were that I always closed my eyes in anticipation of the noise as I pulled the trigger, and I couldn’t hold it steady when I shot. My arms always jerked upward. So I never once hit the target. It was laughable.
Almost as laughable as my ability to hear somebody coming.
The stall door beside me suddenly burst open and a female voice yelled, “Freeze!” followed immediately by a shot, and Linette’s shout of pain. A loud clatter sounded as if her rifle had been dropped, then a sliding sound.
I covered my mouth. It was Vahni. Oh, my gosh. She was in Linette’s stall. Had Linette not had time to put her ear plugs in? Mine seemed to be working. I glanced over at Kelsey’s pile of hay, and she was very still. She had to be terrified.
Please, don’t let her make a sound.
In the darkness, I tried to survey what was around me. The stall wall between us went all the way to the ground, but was only about six feet high. Beside me was a water trough, and a wooden bucket for feed. Very slowly, I bent and felt inside the bucket. It was empty.
“I saw you come in here,” Vahni said to Linette. “And I had to follow. Do you know why? Because I admire you. In a society of weakling females, you are strong. A rare find. Both mind and body, very much like a Baelese female. So, tell me. How were you able to communicate with the radio?”
Linette must have been under voice control, because she robotically began to chronicle every detail from when she received the radio. I had to do something. Using painstakingly slow movements, I turned the bucket upside down. I was glad for my soft, slipper-like shoes as I placed them silently on the bucket and stood. Keeping my breathing under control was a feat of its own. I straightened enough to peek over the edge with just my eyes.
Linette was on the ground, leaning against the wall. Blood had soaked her shirt from the shoulder, all the way down. It looked bad. Linette had to see me from where she was, but she never once glanced up at me or did anything to give me away.
Her rifle was close to Vahni, as though the Baelese woman had slid it over with her foot. Vahni was about four feet away, her rifle pointed as Linette spoke.
I’d never shot anyone, or any thing for that matter. But I raised my gun and balanced it on the edge of the wall, pointing it downward and aiming. Not a single part of my body was not shaking. I’d begun to sweat from obscure places, like the backs of my knees.
“Fascinating,” Vahni breathed as Linette concluded. “How could you stomach living among your kind, surrounded by mediocrity? They could not possibly have appreciated you in a society that values feminine frailty.”
“I used to think like that,” Linette whispered. “But you shouldn’t underestimate the soft ones. I did, and I was wrong.”
“Do not be ridiculous,” Vahni said.
“They’re like mama bears,” Linette told her. “When their claws come out—”
I shot. Just like always, my eyes automatically clamped shut at the last second, and I stumbled, nearly falling off the bucket.
Then I heard Linette say, “Took you long enough.”
I pulled myself back to standing and peered over, heart racing. Vahni was on the ground, her head surrounded by a pool of darkness. I let out a shocked whimper as Linette pushed to her feet. She peered up at me, and in the dimness I saw the whites of her teeth as she smiled.
And then she fell.
“Oh, my God!” I jumped from the bucket and rushed out of my stall, running into hers. I leapt over Vahni’s body and knelt next to Linette. She still had a pulse, so she must have passed out. She’d lost a lot of blood, and I had no idea what to do. I reached for the bottom of my dress and tore off a larger strip, then balled it up and pressed it to her wound, holding my hand hard over it.
Through my muffled ears I heard footsteps coming nearer, and I pulled Linette into the corner, trying to keep pressure on. At the same time, from across the camp I heard a series of shots and voices. Something big was going on near the warehouse. The footsteps got to the barn and I held Linette’s wound with one hand while my other hand pointed my gun at the doorway.
“U.S. Marines!” I heard someone yell just as a dark figure appeared around the corner brandishing a rifle.
“It’s me!” I stupidly shouted, as if they’d know who I was.
But the deep voice said, “Remy?” and my heart jumped.
I squinted, making out his tall shape. “Devon?” A sound of elation ripped from my chest, something between a laugh and a sob.
“It is you—hot damn!” He stepped over Vahni and squatted beside us.
“Linette’s shot.”
“I got her.” He scooped Linette into his arms. “Follow me. Keep your gun out.” We stepped over the dead body. The body of the creature I killed. And for once in my life, I had no guilt.
“Kelsey!” I called. “You can come out!” Then I explained to Devon. “It’s a little girl.”
He nodded. I heard the shuffle of hay and patter of small feet running to me. I scooped her into my arms and held her tight. “You were so good.”
Together, we ran from the barn to the women’s dormitory, passing bodies. When we got to the door I recognized New York Josh, but there was no time to stop. We beamed at each other, and I rushed inside, looking around. I’d expected to see the younger girls, but they weren’t here. On the floor was a row of bodies, all bleeding from various places, and two medics working over them. The sight of brown waves, tanned skin, and efficient movements made everything inside me swell with joy. I immediately choked up.
“Amber?”
Her head swung around. “Remy! Thank God!”
I stood back while Devon rushed to Amber’s side and set down Linette.
“Rem, come wrap this wound,” Amber said, motioning to the gauze in her hand as she peered down at Linette’s still form.
I set down Kelsey and ran over to grab the gauze. I didn’t recognize the soldier with the bleeding arm, but he nodded at me, gritting his teeth, and I nodded back before getting to work.
Amber was able to quickly dig the bullet out of Linette’s shoulder.
“She is so fucking lucky,” Amber murmured. “Shot just under her collarbone. Missed her heart and main arteries.” She poured something on the wound, I was guessing to sterilize it, and Linette gasped out a croak, her eyes shooting open. Devon had to hold her down as she cursed from the pain.
“Good to see you haven’t lost your fire,” Amber said.
“Oh, it’s you.” Linette closed her eyes and leaned back against Devon, her forehead pinched with pain. “How bad is it?”
“I was just saying how lucky you are. It’s going to take a couple months to heal, but you’ll be good to go.”
Linette cracked open a single eye and looked right at me. “Thanks.”
I shrugged, feeling an unfamiliar sense of pride. Amber shot me a questioning look.
Linette closed her eye and grunted. “She saved my life. Killed the alien bitch.”
Amber’s eyes widened and she smiled. I had so much to tell her.
As soon as she shot Linette up with morphine, she started working on the next guy, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I threw my arms around her neck. She couldn’t hug me back, but her voice got thick.
“Shit, now I can’t see,” she said, trying to wipe her eyes against her shoulders. I pulled up the skirt of my dress and dabbed her eyes while she laughed.
“I thought we were besties now, Remy,” Linette said, eyes still closed. Amber scoffed, but I had to smile.
“I can never have too many friends.”
Kelsey slunk over to my side and leaned against me, needing to be close. I put an arm around her.
“You’re okay, sweetie. This is my friend, Amber. Amb, this is Kelsey.”
“Hi,” Amber said, giving her a quick smile. Kelsey stared down at the injured soldier while Amber finished wrapping.
“You’re a doctor,” Kelsey said. “My mommy was a doctor.”
Amber and I both smiled at her. I rubbed Kelsey’s back, then looked toward the door at Josh. “Have you seen Tater?”
“Yeah, he’s over at the warehouse. Amber got the worm out of him.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Is he okay?”
“He looked rough, but wanted to fight.” Josh glanced over at the warehouse. “Looks like it’s almost over. Some of our guys pulled out the kids.”
I stood and went to the door. A female soldier was running our way with my girls. I embraced each of them as they came in.
“I’m Carmen,” said the woman.
“Hi. Remy.”
She nodded. “Heard all about you.”
“What’s going on over there?” Josh asked her.
“They won’t stand down, even though they’re surrounded. They’re using humans as shields and guards. But we’ve sniped the majority and only three are left. Top is ready to ambush.”
“Showdown,” Josh said. “How about the rest of the area?”
“Far as I know, clear.”
Devon stood. “I’m going back out.” He left us to help the others, and I shouted at his back.
“Be careful!”
Everything outside was eerily quiet. I stood near the door so I could see to the warehouse at the end of the clearing. I had to squint. After a few minutes, a rush of soldiers burst through the doors and I covered my mouth as rapid firing rang out. We all watched, holding our breath.
Amber finished and came to my side, watching with us. We immediately grabbed hands. After several minutes of firing and shouting, a cheer filled the air.
“Hell, yeah!” Josh said. Everyone in our room cheered too.
Then voices began shouting, “Medic!”
My stomach dropped. Who was hurt? I tried to think of who all would’ve been over there: Top, Devon, Tex, Tater. I grabbed ahold of a bed rail to steady myself against a wave of dread.
Amber rushed over for her bag. She, the other medic, and I ran toward the warehouse. I halted when we reached the entrance. Someone had turned on the light and it was a bloody mess. Bodies everywhere, mostly Baelese, but a handful of humans too. And a bunch of our men were standing in a circle over one body in particular.
Amber pushed her way into the fray and yelled in a trembling voice, “Top!” I saw Devon, Tater, and Tex crouching over him. My tummy fluttered with happy relief to see that they were fine, and then nausea at the sight of Top splayed out, so still. Tater looked up with mournful eyes and shook his head as Amber fell to her knees and took Top’s pulse. Then her head fell and a cry broke through my lips. I’d always respected the First Sergeant, who we first met as “Dog Balls,” but I knew Amber loved him. He’d treated her like a daughter, and kind of reminded me of her real dad.
All around us, soldiers began to file in, surrounding Top in a circle of remorse. “He’s gone,” people whispered. “Top didn’t make it.” And one word reverberated in my mind as I looked around at the reverence on everyone’s faces.
Hero.