Back on the Block

The next thing she remembered was waking up. She was laying on a bed, hooked up to all kinds of machines. IV drips, EKG monitoring, and everything else. She looked around. The room was rather sterile. White everywhere. She heard the beeping of the heart monitor. She tried to move her arms, but they felt rather sluggish. She grunted. Something moved out of the corner of her eye. She looked to it. The room was dark. It was still night. She came to her senses and heard a hushed speaking.

“Don’t worry. I’m here. I’ll make sure she doesn’t spoil anything.” A man said.

The voice rang in her ear. It was familiar. She thought back. Back to the radio station. Her heart skipped a beat. Her mind went a mile a minute. She looked around. There was nothing immediately sharp or pointy. She heard the sound of heels and cloth and leaned back, closing her eyes just enough to make sure she could still see through her eyelashes, and feigned sleep. The man walked up to the side of her bed and slowly pulled the connector out of the IV going into her main vein.

“Let’s see how you like a little air in your veins. Nothing that can be traced back to me, of course.” He said as he pulled out a syringe with nothing in it.

Allison noted his hands were gloved up, which would mean he wouldn’t leave fingerprints. He went to put the syringe into her arm. Her other hand shot over and grabbed it. He shouted. Backed up. Allison used the momentum to sit up in the bed as her grip held strong. He swung and clocked her in the face. She jerked him back and pried the syringe out of his hand. He knocked it away instead, sending it sailing across the room. She cursed him and tried to get him into a headlock. Her body hadn’t fully recovered, and she could tell her leg was still a problem. He was going to regain his composure soon. Too soon.

She reached out and grabbed the IV bag stand by the tubing. It toppled over and fell to the floor. She heard someone calling out. A nurse was running down the hall. Allison had little time and little care for an explanation. Plus the man was still trying to kill her. He flailed against her body and started punching her in any place he could. Her hands still held onto the tubing. She quickly let him go, anticipating his next move. He backed up, where the tubing caught his neck behind him. He turned around to try to see what it was that was holding him there, but Allison pulled him in and wrapped the tubing around him the whole way. She cinched it around his neck and pulled. He gasped and choked, his hands reaching out to try to get to her.

She leaned back. He grabbed her face and tried to go for her eyes. She moved her head this way and that, keeping his hands from reaching her. He grabbed onto her ponytail and tugged. She pulled the tubing tighter. His other hand pulled at her arms, but she held on. There was nothing in the world that would make her let go. The man slumped and went limp, but she kept it up. A NATO soldier barged in with the nurse and saw the commotion. He drew his pistol and ordered Allison to let the man go. She breathed heavily and smiled. She let the tubing go and the man’s body fell to the floor. Her face was marred with scratches, as was her arm. But she’d held on as long as it took.

“What the hell’s your problem?!” The NATO soldier asked.

“He…was trying…to kill me…” Allison replied between breaths.

The trooper sighed and looked at the nurse. He ordered her to get Allison back into the bed, then left and made a call to get a watch outside her door. Allison couldn’t stop smiling to herself as the nurse hauled the body of the man away and came back to get her squared away. She kept smiling right as she fell back asleep.

The next day was full of excitement. Colonel Duchamp stood before Allison’s hospital bed with his usual French demeanor. Hard-nosed and no nonsense.

“So I am to believe that the man you killed last night was a mole for this new organization?” He asked.

“Yes sir.” Allison replied.

“And this man, who is one of our NATO brothers, performed sabotage on the mission you were assigned to.”

“Yes sir.”

“And these…”Ashen Dawn” people…are capturing and experimenting on demi-machina at this castle you were at in Coburg?”

“Yes sir.”

Colonel Duchamp looked at Allison very grimly.

“These are serious implications, Corporal. And they have not yet exonerated you from your actions last night.”

The MP from before was next to Duchamp and looked at him.

“Now that you mention it…I do remember hearing talk about this guy being seen around the hangars yesterday morning.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

Colonel Duchamp hummed to himself.

“Well the only other witness that can corroborate anything would be Sergeant First Class Charlotte. Do you have anything to add?” Duchamp asked.

Charlotte, who was sitting in a wheelchair with a full-length cast on her leg, smiled up at the Colonel.

“It was very fishy to see the ARES we found dragged into the center of a football field. The enemy units were new types of machines we’ve never encountered before, and they were not marked with anything resembling Soviet designations. Not to mention, the fact that all the Liftmasters had engine troubles? Too convenient. It all stinks.”

“And you believe this woman is to be trusted?”

“Respectfully sir, I wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t.”

The Colonel nodded and then looked back at Allison. “A formal investigation into the suspected mole’s whereabouts, actions, and accounts will be conducted. For now, get some rest. If anything comes up, we will notify you.”

“Yes sir.” Allison replied.

The Colonel and the MP left. There were two outside her door. She heard them snap to attention as the Colonel walked out and passed by them. Charlotte wheeled herself up to Allison’s bedside.

“You sure know how to party.”

“Bite me.” Allison replied.

“Yeah, as would be expected.”

“No way they think he’s innocent.”

“Well we can’t ask him unless we have a seance, and I personally don’t believe in ghosts.”

“Whatever. They can’t put me in the brig. He’s gotta have stuff that’ll implicate him.”

“I don’t think his innocence is in question, Allison. It’s your track record. That's why they’re like this.”

“I didn’t betray my team in Croatia.”

“Well if last night was anything, I can safely say that I’m fine with you at my back.”

Allison looked over to Charlotte and met her eyes.

“You mean that?” She asked her.

“Don’t get any funny ideas. I’d still rather keep to my own team, but you sure as hell can roll with the best of them.”

“I just want to go back…”

“Back to what? Nothing you can go back to, Allison. We’re here. We’re alive. And that’s in no small part thanks to you.”

“I couldn’t leave you to get torn apart.”

“You could’ve. You could’ve saved your own skin. We’ve heard it happen a lot. But you didn’t. That’s the mark of a good soldier.”

“Adulation from you?”

“Yeah. Enjoy it because once you’re back in action, it’s the same old song and dance again.”

“Oh joy. I need that like I need a hole in my head.”

Charlotte wheeled herself away and turned around.

“Where are you going?” Allison asked.

“I got my own recuperation schedule. Can’t spend it all by your bedside, Corporal.”

“Fine. Get out of here.”

Charlotte flipped her the bird as she headed out. Allison responded in kind. She settled back onto the bed and tried to enjoy the prospect of actually getting some sleep for once. She sighed to herself. It had been a very hectic twenty-four hours, but now it was time for her to finally let everything go.

The following day turned up quite a lot. The best news was that Allison’s leg was still going to be a long haul in recovery time due to the extended use of the tourniquet, but she wouldn’t have to get it amputated. The mole turned out to be in possession of multiple components that were listed as missing from the Liftmasters engines. Components that disappeared the day before the mission, as well as communication devices and some paraphernalia of the new Ashen Dawn cult. It was as damning as evidence could get. She was, in fact, exonerated for her actions.

Even still, despite acting in self-defense, she was given an earful about how much more information they would have gathered from him if Allison didn’t kill him. She didn’t care. After the day she had, it was another thing she didn’t need to worry about. He was some intel analyst who had just so happened to have that hot tip about the fateful mission they had gone on. He didn’t have much in the way of combat skills. The cult probably bought him with empty promises. Another useful idiot to them, but he bit off more than he could chew. And in their business that was known as a “self-correcting injury.” Allison was just glad everything worked out. She’d be out of action for a bit, but she was back home now and ready to fight another day. And that was all that mattered to her.