Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Wild Wings ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Thank you Jess for your thoughts :D I hope 9 lives up to the dramatic expectations.

 

Thanks also to Anf600! I've had fun combining the odd with the every day in many of my stories. I like exploring the question 'what if that really happened...?' I'm glad you've noticed it. Also, I figure with the scientists in space and the boys down on earth there's got to be some limit to the direction they can be given. A bit of independence is necessary for them to work things out right.

 

 

Chapter 9

 

Duo planted his first bomb without interruption in the middle of the magazine. He left the building with a wistful sigh. It was a shame he couldn't take any of it with him. Well... he patted his pockets with a rogue grin, any more than he had, that was. Bomb two found itself nestled in a supply depot of mecha parts.

 

He glanced both ways out of the depot's hanger doors when something on the far side of the base went boom. A mushroom of red and yellow flame lit the area like daylight for a brief, terrifying second. Duo twisted his watch around. Something was seven minutes way, way too early.

 

Duo sprinted for his last target. A siren warmed itself up and screamed though the base. A second one echoed it. A third. The warm yellow lights on the corners of the buildings bleed red and suddenly the mostly-empty base was swarming with people.

 

If there was one good thing about this, it was not having to sneak around anymore; but that was really the only high point he could come up with. Now he was fighting the crowds and the palpations his heart was trying desperately to regulate. What the hell had happened?

 

The pilot vaulted over the hood of a truck and sprinted. A smatter of bullets echoed as he turned the corner but Duo wasn't sure they were aimed at him. It didn't matter. Bullets weren't going to stop him. The backpack bounced when he scaled a chain-link fence. He slapped the pavement as he landed on the other side and took off again.

 

It took a moment to orient the blueprint in his head with the buildings as he passed them. Once it was he skidded to a stop and wrenched a door open to cut through. The muzzle of a gun made him hiss in surprise. He ducked, kicked, knocked the guard unconscious and kept going. Around a corner two soldiers turned to see the commotion. Duo slid to a stop with a curse and ducked into an open doorway.

 

Bullets sprayed the air. Duo covered his head but rather than follow him into the office, the two men collapsed.

 

"Zero-Two?"

 

Oh crap. No, that wasn't good enough. Oh Holy Mother of God sounded more appropriate. He'd go with that one. The one voice he really, really didn't want to hear was around that door jam and probably wasn't going to ask a second time for confirmation before firing.

 

"Two here..." The squeak was pitiful but suddenly a very tall teen wrapped in an OZ uniform was blocking the light from the hall and Duo very much wanted to be an insignificant mouse.

 

"What are you doing?"

 

Duo scrambled to his feet and grinned, "Um, dodging bullets?"

 

Three frowned... or continued to frown. Duo wasn't sure since he didn't want to look at the man for too long. Just in case is got angry... or something.

 

"What happened outside?"

 

"Donno." Duo was quick to deny with a shake of his hands, "It wasn't me- hey I'd love to stick around and chat but I have another bogy to set... d'ya mind?"

 

Three stepped to the side, "Where are you going?"

 

Duo tried to edge through the doorway without getting any closer. "Um... the river-side Aries hanger..." He stepped over the dead solders.

 

Three followed him out of the room and turned, "This way."

 

"But isn't it—"

 

"Let's go."

 

Duo harrumphed. He pulled his cap down lower and trotted after the teen They jogged through the halls and Three guided him around several corners that spat them out again not far from the hanger.

 

Ok, fine. It had been faster this way. Didn't mean he had to admit it out loud.

 

"There he is! Shoot him!" They ducked. Bullets rent the air. Duo heard Three curse quietly and return fire. The braided pilot retreated back into the building and yanked one of the grenades he nicked from the magazine out of his pocket. Three leaned out for another exchange and Duo slid behind him to chuck the bomb. It bounced once and exploded in a soldier's face. Several men screamed.

 

The two pilots ran for it. Three gunned down a surprised soldier on the way and exchanged his handgun for the man's semi-automatic without breaking stride.

 

Duo broke several speed limits and set a new record cracking the hanger lock. He hauled the corrugated metal up. The swing nearly took his arm off with it. Sixteen Aries units glared down at him. Duo sprinted up the center isle. The other pilot was hot on his heels.

 

He came to a stop in the middle of the hanger and turned a quick circle. "Damn."

 

"What's wrong?" Three had his back to Duo, eyeing the open hanger door.

 

"The place is too big; I don't have enough explosive for a direct shot..." Duo muttered. "Shit... need more juice, where can I get more..." He nearly smacked himself in the head, "Of course, fuel!" He pushed three toward the front of the hanger. The teen spun with a snarl and aimed his weapon. Duo didn't care; "Open the fuel drain on the front Aries and work your way back."

 

"What?!"

 

"Do it!" He tore the backpack off and got to work setting his last two blocks of C4. His watch showed just above four minutes. With the bomb blinking merrily he grabbed the pack and stood.

 

"Don't move." A gun at the back of his head backed up the order.

 

Shit. Duo let the pack slide to the floor and carefully lifted his hands. A splash indicated Three was doing as he asked. Well there was some good news in the world.

 

"Go get him." Two other soldiers ran past Duo apparently in response to the order. They dropped dead before they had a chance to open their mouths. Three reappeared, splashed with gas, his gun aimed at Duo's attacker.

 

"Shoot and I'll kill your friend here." Duo heard the man shift behind him.

 

Three didn't seem phased by the comment and continued his steady approach. "Shoot my friend there and I'll kill you."

 

Oh fuck this was not good. The gun at Duo's head clicked. "I'm warning you!" Three's eyes flicked. Duo dropped like a rock without questioning it. Guns fired.

 

"I warned you already."

 

The OZ soldier rocked back and hit the ground with a sickening crack. Duo looked up. Three was inspecting a graze on his shoulder. The man got brownie points for saving his ass.

 

The bomb beeped once. Two minutes. Duo grabbed the backpack and ran for the back of the hanger. He paused only long enough to open a fuel drain in one of the Aires suits and realized then why Three was splashed with gas. It poured over his feet like Niagara, met with another running river thanks to Three and headed toward the drain where the C4 sat.

 

One minute.

 

Together they sprinted for the back door. It opened before they could reach it. Three began fireing before Duo could clearly see who it was. He fished out his second grenade anyway, pulled the pin, and launched it into the cluster of soldiers that poured through the door.

 

The concussion knocked Duo back onto his ass. He rolled with it but his legs wouldn't hold him and he fell again. A strong arm yanked his shirt by the collar.

 

"Up, damnit. We're out of time."

 

The man got major brownie points. Duo forced his legs to move with a grunt. They stumbled through the mess of no-longer-people and out of the hanger. Three half-dragged him to a chain-link which he climbed on automatic and fell over the other side. A rock dug into his ribs on the left and he was starting to realize he couldn't feel much in his lower legs.

 

He was in shock.

 

A body dropped over him just before the world went to hell. The ground bucked, heat seared the sweat off his brow, and a roar to deafen all roars assaulted his ears. Three tried to get him moving before the ringing even set in. Duo swiped still-sweaty palms down his leg and nearly screamed. No wonder he was having trouble- there was a piece of shrapnel in his right leg and several pieces in his left. His hands came away smeared red.

 

Three hauled him up anyway and it was only then that Duo realized they were headed in the wrong direction. The river was on the other side of the base...

 

This whole setup blazed straight past pear-shaped directly into the tropical fruit realm of bananas. He struggled weakly against Three's grip. "Gotta... get to the river." Ah, the ringing had set in.

 

"Like hell, Two. I'm getting you to the Gundams and we're blowing this stand."

 

Duo's heart dropped and his feet along with it. He tripped. Tree caught him around the waist and hauled him forward again. Duo groaned, "Scythe isn't at the extraction point."

 

This time Three faltered, "Repeat that?!"

 

Duo clenched his teeth and cursed himself for a moment. "My Gundam is in the river." And boy was he regretting that big-time. Three turned them around and stood in the grass, dumbstruck. The base was up in flames. They could still hear the sirens screaming through the darkness and the 'chop chop' of a helicopter deafened them again for a moment.

 

Three put a hand up against the wind and slowly turned away. "Then it looks like you're riding shotgun." He sighed

 

Since it seemed the Latin wasn't inclined to say it, Duo added; "Fuck."

 

Duo struggled to keep himself moving, one arm braced around Three's shoulders. In the end he was barely walking at all, mostly carried along, and was starting to fight unconsciousness as well.

 

The sight of a camo-covered mecha nearly brought tears to his eyes.

 

"You first. In behind the seat." Three said. They scrambled over the chest. Three released the hatch and Duo tried not to drip blood over everything as he wormed inside. There was no room for him here. It didn't matter, he'd have to deal. He maneuvered one leg on either side of the pilot chair with his back against the wall. The chair rocked when Three dropped into it.

 

"Here." A first aid kit dropped into his lap.

 

Duo groaned. The idea of pulling ragged metal from his own flesh was not an appealing thought. Three had no sympathy for him. Not that he really expected it. The hatch hissed closed while Duo struggled with his still-wet and now fuel-drenched pants. He eventually cut the things off.

 

Right leg first. He tied a rag of his pants just under his knee to cut off the blood flow. The Gundam shuddered as it righted itself. Duo's weight shifted from his back to his butt. He pulled the piece of metal out of his hamstring without any further delay. The first aid kit had a bottle of alcohol so he splashed some on and bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself silent. Oooh, it burned. Tears sprung and the black of unconsciousness threatened again. He fought it.

 

He lurched when the mecha launched and found himself fighting unconsciousness and nausea now. When the moment passed he let his head rest for a moment and just breathed.

 

Time for stitches.

 

God he hated stitches.

 

It took a few tries to thread the needle and a few moments after that to convince himself he was going to pass out from blood loss and shock if he didn't get a move on and do it. He tried not to think about the fact that he might pass out anyway. Ok, take a deep breath, Duo.

 

He filled his lungs, gasped again at the first pinch of the needle, and stitched the three inches down and back up as fast as he could while holding his breath.

 

He let it out in a rush when he finished. It wasn't perfect but it was done. He wrapped himself in gauze and breathed for a moment.

 

Onto leg two. Luckily this one wasn't nearly as bad. More bits of metal but none of them were as large or as deep. Only one cut needed stitches and he preformed that one in the same way he did the first.

 

Gauze wrapped, Duo tossed the needle and thread back in the first aid box and rifled around. He found a ration bar and took that, ignored the pain killers he found at the bottom, and closed the thing with a sigh.

 

It probably wasn't a good idea to sleep just yet... but he was so tired. Duo looked at the ration bar in his hands. He couldn't read the label. Three's chair blocked the light from his monitors straight across his lap and up over his face. It left his legs in sharp highlighted relief.

 

The poor guy's cockpit was a mess of blood and alcohol. Man, he really owed him a big one.