A Soldier in Love Page 8

  “Are you sure it can’t get out?” Aaron said looking to Michelle. His face was serious and concerned.

  “Yeah, yeah I’m sure. Remember, I’m a farmer?” Michelle replied with a grin. She knew it wasn’t really funny but she couldn’t resist.

  “Michelle…” Kate began with a concerned tone in her voice.

  Michelle shook her head. “No, really guys I’m serious it can’t get out.”

  Michelle approached the cage and watched as it bared its teeth at her. They looked like the kind a dog would have, except much, much sharper. They looked almost as though they were dingy yellow knives affixed to its mouth. It both growled and hissed menacingly at her. Michelle had never heard anything as disturbing as its growl. It was an ugly, smelly thing. It was about the size of a large dog and its hide looked like that of an armadillo or maybe an elephant.

  Aaron shifted his weight and peered at the molcos hund. “Well, that didn’t do much except piss him off.”

  Aaron shifted through the things he carried. He opened a bottle of bleach and poured a small amount in a cup. He took a stepped back and hurled it at the caged being.

  It shrieked in pain and the smell of its burning flesh filled the air.

  Kate turned away and covered her ears.

  “The flashlight,” Aaron called to Kate.

  “Sorry,” Kate replied turning back around to hold the flashlight in place.

  “Put it out of its misery,” Kate begged.

  “It’s either us or it, Kate,” Michelle warned. To Michelle it seemed simple and she kept it that way. Kill or be killed is what she told herself the weeks and days leading up to the war. She wasn’t sure how Kate could see an in-between.

  Michelle followed Aaron’s lead and poured another cup splashing it in the thing’s face. She watched as its hide seemed to melt and it collapsed in the back of the cage.

  “What should we do with its body?” Aaron asked looking to Michelle.

  “Leave the carcass out here. Maybe it will scare off its friends,” she said collecting the various items they used in their experiment back into her pack.

  “God, that thing smells awful,” Kate said.

  Michelle coughed as the stench rose around them. It was a putrid scent that made her stomach uneasy.

  “We better go back before The Commander notices we’re missing,” Aaron said.

  They turned and began to head back to base. It was a strange thing being almost burnt to death in the day and frozen to the bone at night. With their increasing thinness, the heat that used to radiate within them from the day had faded; it had nowhere to cling to anymore. Michelle didn’t know if she could ever get used to it. With the sun down, the sandy desert planes were cold. The two moons that orbited the planet could be seen clearly along with a mirage of bright stars in the sky. Michelle shivered; she knew that her lack of body weight making her more susceptible to the cold.

  “What are we going to do?” Kate asked softly.

  Aaron and Michelle remained quiet for a minute both thinking to themselves.

  “Why don’t we keep a small bottle of bleach on us at all times,” Aaron offered.

  Kate nodded. “OK but how?”

  “I hope a small bottle will be enough,” Michelle interjected.

  The three went quiet for a time. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of the soft desert wind and the crunching of their heavy boots on the sand. The moons provided an eerie haunting glow to the red sand dunes around them.

  “Well, it’s just an idea…” Kate started.

  “Tell us,” Michelle encouraged.

  “Aaron, do you think our cooler packs would still work if they had bleach in them?” Kate said pensively.

  Michelle looked to Aaron who was deep in thought.

  “Kate, you’re a fucking genius!” he exclaimed with a huge smile.

  Michelle rushed to Kate and gave her a quick hug.

  “I mean, it won’t be a lot but it could be enough to get out of a bind,” Kate offered.

  “It will do,” Michelle replied warmly.

  “I’ll fix them tonight. If The Commander asks we can say yours are broken,” Aaron said decisively.

  ***

  The next day Michelle awoke to the sound of the screams. She heard it again. It wasn’t just a scream of fright or shock, no, it was a scream of pure agony and pain.

  She jolted out of bed and quickly threw her uniform on. She ran down the hall with no boots on. Her bare feet hit the rough concrete floor.

  “Aaron? Aaron?” she called out to him as he was stooped down the hallway by someone.

  “Help me,” the voice called out.

  “Michelle,” Aaron was barely able to get her name out. He had an intensely worried expression on his face.

  Michelle looked down to see Alex, another soldier who was part of their squad. She hadn’t really talked to him that much. From the interactions she did have, she recalled he was always kind. She examined his body; it was bloody and mangled. It seemed almost though he was covered in blood. His leg was bad, really bad. She could see a slim white bone protruding from his thigh. Most of all his exposed skin was bloodied by deep scratch marks. She could almost see his muscle against part of a piece that had been ripped away. His face was ghost white.

  It felt like a dream, a bad dream.

  “Help me get him to the medic station. Try not to let him talk, he’s got a lot of internal injuries,” Aaron directed as he wrapped his wounds and hoisted him up on a gurney. Michelle looked down at the part of the bone that was protruding from his leg. It was broken, very broken. She looked closer, no it wasn’t just broken; he had lost part of it. He had lost part of his leg. Her stomach turned but she stayed by his side.

  Michelle moved him towards to the medic station on the gurney and Aaron trailed closely behind her.

  “Aaron,” a voice called out.

  “Aaron, there’s more,” it was Kate’s voice.

  “Go, Michelle. Take care of him,” Aaron commanded.

  “Where were you?” Michelle asked ignoring Aaron’s prior instructions. She stopped in the hallway. She didn’t know much about medicine but she was certain that he wasn’t going to make it; his injuries were just too bad. She had to get information and get it fast. He was almost dead.

  “Trying to make it to the shuttle,” his words were strained and soft.

  Michelle tried to apply pressure to some of his wounds. She wished for anyone or anything that could help her take his pain away. Her hands were quickly becoming covered in his blood. He was losing more and more. She wasn’t sure what to do; she had never had any sort of medical training. She wrapped his wounds as best she could to keep the blood from escaping from his body. Her own hands and arms becoming bloody in the process.

  “Not what you think, Commander sent us,” he whispered as his frightened brown eyes met her green gaze.

  Her stomach turned. “Us? Who is us? Do I need to go for them?”

  “Please, Michelle, please help me,” he said barely over a whisper. She could tell his words were stressed.

  “Michelle, it hurts, it hurts,” he whimpered.

  “Alex, it’ll be OK. You’ll be OK,” she offered softly unsure of what to say or what to do. She brushed her fingertips over the side of his face affectionately.

  “Michelle,” he called out hoarsely.

  “Shhh, Alex, don’t speak. Aaron will be right back with help. We will get you through this,” she said as soothingly as she could muster.

  “No,” he shook his head. “No, you have to help the others then you have to get out of here,” he said in barely a whisper.

  His body began to shake and he began to convulse. Michelle toppled on top of him as she held him down firmly. It was useless; it was though she was holding water in her hands. He kept slipping away. Just yesterday, there had been a courageous young man with a strong healthy body. In front of her now, there was a dying bloody frightened man.

  No one deserves this sufferin
g, especially Alex. He was good and he was kind.

  To her relief, he opened his brown eyes and reached out for her hand. She took his hand within hers. She thought for a moment their eye contact was meaningful. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before he went limp. She could sense it. It was a distinct sort of feeling that he was now free; his soul had left his body and he was gone.

  God, take my fellow soldier. God, help me avenge him, she quickly prayed over his body.

  “Michelle?” Kate called.

  Michelle looked up to Kate with tears in her eyes.

  “Are there others?” Michelle asked as she blinked the tears away.

  Kate nodded.

  “Then I’m going,” Michelle said running to grab her boots and her rifle.

  “No, you can’t go alone. You’ll fucking die out there. I’m going with you,” Aaron yelled.

  Michelle ran back, stooping down to lace up her boots, her heavy rifle fastened to her back.

  She gave Aaron an angry look. “Look here, doctor, you are staying here. You have to fix these people. I’m about to blow the fucking head off of whatever just took Alex! He just died a horrible death and it’s not going to be for nothing!”

  She felt the all too familiar rage shoot through her veins. She gritted her teeth.

  Before Aaron could say anything else Kate intervened. “I’ll go with her.”

  “No,” Aaron replied with widened eyes.

  “Aaron, fucking stop arguing with us and take care of the wounded!” Kate screamed at him. It was the first time Kate had ever lost her cool. Michelle had never heard raise her voice before. It had finally been serious enough for her to. She was ready to fight, Michelle could tell. She had made the choice right along with her, they would kill, they would not die today.

  Aaron shook his head and retreated. He knew the girls were right. He had his own battle to fight, right in front of him.

  “Let’s go now,” Kate replied heaving two bottles of bleach.

  Michelle grabbed the keys for the Jeep from The Commander’s post which had been unlocked and left in a disarray. Her and Kate ran to the Jeep and climbed in. Michelle put her foot on the clutch and turned the engine. She shifted gears as quickly as she could as she followed the faint tracks from the other Jeep that were left in the red sand.

  “Get your gun ready,” she instructed Kate. Kate nodded and got into stance with her finger on the trigger.

  Michelle shifted up a gear. She silently cursed the Earth Army for having open door Jeeps.

  What the hell were they thinking? These things can just lunge right at us!

  Michelle slowed down again, noticing the Jeep wasn’t liking the desert heat. It was an almost ancient army model. She was surprised it still worked at all.

  Come on baby, come on. Don’t quit on me now, she silently prayed.

  Michelle jumped a little when she heard a shot. She looked to her side to see Kate aiming at several molcos hunds. One lunged towards the Jeep.

  Those damn things are fast.

  Kate shot it directly in its chest area but the bullet didn’t pierce the skin. It knocked it back for a second before it lunged again. Kate shot it again, and then again, before the bullet finally penetrated its thick hide.

  “Keep calm,” Michelle said. She wasn’t sure if she said it more for herself or for Kate.

  “I am. I can do this. We will be OK, we just have to get to the others,” Kate replied.

  Michelle downshifted and the engine hummed as they approached the other Jeep. The molcos hunds seemed to be retreating from it.

  “They don’t like the taste of us,” Michelle said as Kate fired another shot to scare them away.

  Most of the molcos hunds ran off but one stayed. It had a look in its eyes of vehemence.

  Kate fired again but it was too late, the molcos hund was too fast. It had already jumped on the hood of the Jeep. It bared its sharp, knife-like teeth at them and hissed. It was massive much bigger than the others. It’s unmistakable stench overwhelmed the pair.

  “Shit,” Michelle called out pulling the brake. The Jeep lurched to a complete stop and it slid off the hood only to jump back up on the driver’s side.

  The molcos hund’s thick claws dug into Michelle’s left arm. Michelle winced in pain as it tore chunks of her flesh off as it pulled back.

  This is it, Michelle’s mind raced.

  Before it could hit her again Michelle quickly ripped off her cooler pack with her right hand and hurled it towards the beast

  Just then Kate ripped off her cooler pack as well. She fumbled towards the creature as she was practically in Michelle’s lap and shoved it its eye. It let out a loud moan before its skin started to form puss bubbles. It slowly retreated from the Jeep.

  Michelle grabbed a container of bleach and followed it. She hit the ground running and poured it on the rest of its body. It tried to claw at her again, but then at last it died.

  It finally died. What the fuck are these things made out of? Michelle’s mind raced.

  “Hurry, go see if anyone is alive,” Michelle called out as she staggered back to the Jeep. It was brutally hot without the cooler pack. Her arm was covered in blood and it hurt like hell. It felt like the damn molcos hund was still tearing at her flesh even though it lay there dead.

  She looked down to see the trail of blood she was leaving all around her.

  “But your arm,” Kate cried.

  “Go before they come back. Please just check,” Michelle cried.

  Michelle ripped open her uniform top and wrapped her arm in it. She could see dark red blood coming through the cloth. She winced in pain. It was hard to tell how much blood she was losing as Alex’s blood still covered her.

  Kate ran over to the other Jeep and she comes back shaking her head with tears in her eyes.

  She climbed into the Jeep and Michelle approached the other vehicle.

  “What are you doing?” Kate asked astonished that she hadn’t turned around.

  “We have to siphon the fuel,” Michelle said as she scrambled to get the kit. Her blood began to coat almost everything around her.

  “What?” Kate said as if she was speaking another language.

  “We have to do it, I don’t think there’s enough gas left in this thing to get us back to the launch zone,” Michelle fretted.

  Michelle pulled the empty gas can from the back along with a piece of hose. It wasn’t clear but it would due. She knew that the army always kept one in each vehicle in case of a situation like this.

  “No, you’re hurt I’ll do it,” Kate said grabbing the tube and handing Michelle her rifle.

  “Just put the hose in the gas tank and blow. Blow like you are blowing bubbles,” Michelle said wearily, trying to endure the heat along with the blood loss. She could feel the rest of her uniform becoming damp with both blood and sweat. The heat was becoming increasingly more intense without the cooler pack.

  Kate dropped to her knees by the gas tank and followed her instructions.

  Michelle gripped the rifle tighter to steady herself. “OK, now clip part of it with your fingers and suck, it should start coming out.”

  Kate did as she instructed and watched as the gas started to fill the empty gas can.

  Michelle was beginning to feel woozy. She shook herself and looked around the vast red sands to see if any other molcos hunds were coming back.

  She looked over to see Kate finishing up. Michelle stumbled back to the Jeep and turned the engine. Kate jumped in the side. The vehicle responded with a loud boom from under the hood.

  “Are you OK?” Kate called as Michelle shifted gears and she took back the rifle.

  Michelle didn’t answer she just concentrated on getting back to base.

  “I should be driving,” Kate yelled out fully concerned for her friend.

  “No, you should be shooting,” Michelle called out as another molcos hund began to chase them.

  Kate fired several shots. Michelle couldn’t see if she hit him since it
was chasing behind them.

  “It’s OK. I killed it,” Kate said as she held the rifle steady looking for any others.

  Michelle felt as though she might pass out. The heat was too intense without the cooler pack, not to mention she was becoming faint from the amount of blood she had lost. Somehow, she got them back to base.

  Kate helped her inside. She didn’t protest she felt far too woozy and hot.

  “Take the gas, too,” Michelle called.