also wanted to be there first. He reached the fork in the corridor and instinctively huddled in against the edge of the wall, creeping around for a better view. He half expected to find enemies awaiting him, but the corridor was empty. He waved his section on and rushed down the corridor. He couldn’t believe he was within seconds of finding his missing comrades.
He had come so close to giving up hope that he kicked himself forever doubting their survival. Then his stomach turned at the realisation that he still had no idea if it was Jones and Walker imprisoned in the facility or some other poor devils.
“Help!”
The cries grew louder as Taylor rushed as quickly as he could while being cautious. He reached a locked cell door and saw a human face on the other side. A soldier with a scarred face and dry blood congealed on his skin. His voice was still muffled by the thick glass window, but Mitch could make out the strong French accent. Two other soldiers were huddled either side of him trying to get a peak, but he couldn’t get a view of their faces.
“Back up! Away from the door!” shouted Taylor.
He pointed for them to move back and the command was quickly understood. He lifted his rifle as the rest of his section formed up around him. They guarded each side of the corridor, but most were fixated on the door to see who was held within. The dim area lit up as the Major’s rifle fired into the lock, blasting a hole into the thick metal. A second shot quickly followed to finish off the high security mechanism.
There was just enough room to get a grasp on the rim of the door. Mitch reached in and pulled hard. The heavy door was flung open and crashed against the wall. Two men and a woman appeared, desperately trying to get out. He pushed forward to get into the cell. On a bench was Captain Jones with Walker lying in his arms.
The Captain looked up with a pale face. He looked like a man who had been utterly defeated. Only a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes as he recognised the man who stood before him. Charlie studied Taylor for a minute, shocked at how different he looked. The Reitech armour and weapons were nothing like anything he had seen before. To him it resembled their enemy more than their own forces.
Taylor’s face was as bloody and scarred as his own. The Captain looked weak and malnourished, and he had obviously lost a number of kilos in bodyweight during his imprisonment.
“Is it really you?” he asked.
Charlie looked suspicious, as if it was all too good to be true.
Taylor paced up to the two men and looked down at Walker. The man was taking his last few breaths. Dried blood stained his uniform from an old wound in the shoulder. Mitch looked up to Jones for an answer to the soldier’s condition. Jones merely shook his head, signalling that Walker was a goner.
“Sir, we’ve got to get the fuck out of here,” said Hall.
He was stood in the doorway impatiently. Taylor turned and held up his hand to stop the man.
The Major knelt down beside the dying soldier who was gasping to say a few last words. He outstretched his hand which Taylor wrapped his own around.
“Get me home.”
“You can bet on it. We’re getting you out of here.”
“I want a proper burial, for my family…”
The man’s voice faded, and his eyes began to contract as the life drained from him.
“A full ceremony, you’ll have it all,” replied Taylor.
Walker smiled faintly as he finally fell limp and passed over. Taylor looked up into the eyes of Jones who was still holding the dead soldier in his arms. Taylor looked down to see needle holes up the Captain’s arms and continuing up and under his rolled up sleeves.
“Sir, we got to get our fucking asses out of here,” whispered Hall.
Taylor turned and nodded in agreement. He looked back to the distraught Captain who he’d come to call one of his best friends.
“I have so many questions, but right now we haven’t got time for it.”
“I’m not leaving Walker behind,” snapped Jones.
“I know,” he replied. “Sugar, get in here!”
The huge marine ducked under the doorway and into the room.
“Can you carry Walker? We leave no man behind today.”
Sugar reached down and carefully lifted the fallen soldier up and over his shoulder with little effort. He stood ready with one arm supporting Walker’s body, and the other with his bastardised weapon held at the ready. Taylor knew the Reitech suits allowed them to do more than they could ever have imagined, but he wondered if Sugar would have done any different were he not wearing it. He turned back to Jones and the other three prisoners.
“Let’s get you out of here.”
He helped his friend to his feet and led him out the door. His excitement at saving his friend was largely numbed by the loss of their comrade, and the state he had found him. He wondered what they had been through, and if Jones would ever come back from it. At least he wants to live, thought Taylor. They reached the fork back the way they came and found Parker’s section guarding the position.
“We’re out of here, Sergeant. Fire the pickup flare as soon as we get outside.”
Parker was fixated on the ruinous state of Jones and the fallen soldier being carried.
“Parker!”
She snapped out of it and looked into his eyes to see the sadness he was doing his utmost to hold back. She nodded and pulled the flare from her webbing.
“Alright, let’s get the hell out of this shithole,” growled Taylor.
He leapt forward to lead the two sections out. They’d heard nothing from Silva. He hoped that meant his section had met no resistance and set up a solid perimeter. They reached the corridor where they had entered the room, and he’d taken a blast in the chest, to find that parts of it were still burning and starting to spread.
Taylor burst out of the building to see Silva standing with a ghostly face in front of the opposing detention facility. The Major’s heart stopped. What could be worse than what we have just found? he thought.
“Give me a sitrep, Sergeant.”
Silva did not respond. He looked into the Major’s eyes with the same lost expression that Mitch had seen in Jones.
“What’s going on, Sergeant?” he insisted.
Silva turned and gestured for the Major to step through into the building beside him. Taylor realised it was serious enough to warrant a look. He turned to the platoon.
“Take up positions. Parker! Get that flare up. Silva, you’re with me.”
The Sergeant begrudgingly agreed. It worried Taylor that one the toughest NCOs he had ever known appeared to be frightened to return into a building where he already knew what lay inside. Taylor looked to Silva’s section, and they were as stunned as he was.
“Parker, you’re in charge!”
He turned and gestured for Silva to lead the way. The demoralised Sergeant paced uneasily to the door and into the complex. As the door opened, the Major caught a blast of the revolting air that rushed from the building. He didn’t ask what it was. The last thing he needed was to have the rest of the platoon as paralysed as the Sergeant.
Silva led him down a corridor until it opened up into a large hall that appeared to be designed for sports. Up ahead, he could see mounds of what looked like refuse. Can’t be, he thought. Then it struck him, and his gut was right. Human bodies were piled high from the far wall to within ten metres of the corridor.
“My God!”
The two men stopped at the opening to the hall. Taylor gagged at the rotting stench that filled his nostrils and throat. Silva simply stood and gazed in shock. Taylor could see that most of the victims wore prison uniforms, although a number closer to them were soldiers.
“What were they doing here? If they only wanted to exterminate us, then why would Jones and the others be alive?” he asked.
Finally the Sergeant spoke.
“They are studying our soldiers, our warriors. These prisoners mean nothing to them. Looks like most of them were killed outright.”
“What makes you think that?”
