Hissing filled my ears as the atmosphere inside my cryosleep chamber changed, starting the wake cycle. My eyes fluttered open, taking in the foggy windscreen shroud above me… and the bloody handprint smeared across it. As the top of the chamber popped open smoke began rushing in, choking out the oxygen. I panicked, kicking the windscreen and jerking it up enough to roll out of my would-be tomb onto the scalding floor. Christ it burned.
I propped up on my hands and knees and attempted to navigate along the smoke-filled room towards what I thought might be the exit, which it was. The screams of my fellow marines waking up to the same living nightmare I was in mixed with the wail of the fire alarm as I bumped into the wall, feeling above me for some sort of emergency release lever. I found it, pulling down hard. Nothing happened at first, but just as I thought I’d pass out from lack of oxygen the door ground open with a whine of protest until it was mostly open, the motors dying in a shower of sparks.
I clambered out, taking deep breaths while scanning my surroundings. The hall looked ravaged by gunfire with bullet holes riddling the walls, but very few spent casings. That meant caseless weapons, and large caliber ones at that. There was a dead marine wearing nothing but his boxers and the upper portion of his armor, with a shotgun cradled in his arms. “Better than nothing,” I thought. Checking the shotgun revealed 3 slugs left, but the armor was too shredded to be useful, and it probably didn’t fit regardless.
I continued down the hall, the soft pitter patter of my feet echoing off the walls. The ship occasionally shook, signs that the party wasn’t over yet, and as I rounded a bend in the hallway I came face to face with some sort of soldier, decidedly not wearing USCM insignia and looking rather smug standing over another downed marine, this one missing his head.
I didn’t try to communicate, opting for the shoot first approach, and landing a shot square in the back of the soldier. The impact sent him flying face first onto the deck as I racked another shell into the chamber. Another soldier jumped into the hall from a side room and took a round to the chest, propelling him backwards with a scream as a third combatant stuck his rifle out from behind the doorway, blind firing wildly down the corridor. I dropped to the floor using the two bodies near me as cover while the large rounds whizzed over my head.
When he stopped firing and took a peak I sent another round barreling towards his face, missing and plastering the wall behind him. I tried firing again only to realize my mistake as my gun clicked loudly, empty. The soldier stepped out of cover, raising his gun at me as a smile grew on his face, only to receive a blow to said face as I threw the gun at him.
“Take that cocksucker!” I screamed as I charged him, his slew of insults cut off as I crashed into him, causing his gun to fire wildly. Unfortunately, I’m smaller than the average marine, and he was in full combat armor, so my charge ended less with him sprawled out on the floor and more with me caught in some sort of bear hug.
He took my legs out from under me, dropping me hard onto my back as he came down hard on top of me, using his weight to pin me as he wrapped his hands around my neck. I flailed uselessly as he slowly squeezed tighter and tighter. “Stupid girl, capitalist pigs like you are no match for the might of the You Pee Pee!” He grunted in a thick foreign accent as my vision began to darken around the edges, my senses dulling from lack of oxygen. I gave up trying to get him off me and started grasping at his armor, feeling for something that could help me. “What do you expect to accomplish, little girl?” he laughed, squeezing harder. As I neared unconsciousness my finger slipped into a loop, pulling.
The sound of a click followed by a spring made his eyes widen, releasing my neck as I sputtered, coughing. He stood up patting his armor for a second before his eyes met mine, a smile rising on my lips as his chest detonated, sending shrapnel flying everywhere. My entire body exploded in pain. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see. It felt like I’d pissed off a swarm of angry bees, and they’d all decided to sting me simultaneously. I couldn’t take it, consciousness fading fast. Before I faded completely, I noticed someone approaching, their mouth moving. They were saying something, I think. I couldn’t tell, all I heard was ringing, but they looked concerned? I didn’t dwell on it, I couldn’t. The pain had subsided, and I was so very tired.
I closed my eyes and sighed as my heart stopped beating.
So! I wrote this back in 2018, and I never really got around to posting it. I’d like to continue, but I’m at a loss as to where to take it. I’d appreciate any feedback, critique etc!