hej Naseer

”Stay down!”

Leo slowly walked through the corridor with his C-14 ready to be fired.

”Shit.”

The bunker had been razed, around him lay dead bodies, from his comrades and from the enemy. Leo gathered some ammunition and headed for the communications room. When he finally arrived at the door he realized that he had been walking into a collapsing building as the hallways ceiling started loosening. His eyes were tired from the flashes of his nozzle, his arms were weary from the recoil of his weapon, his legs were heavy as if the adrenaline he earlier enjoyed had been stored in his legs.

He made his way out of the collapsing hallway into the communications room when suddenly the big screen on the wall lit up.

”Receiving transmission.”

Leo smiled at the screen, he would probably be picked up by a drop ship together and be threated by cute medic. The screen flickered over to a image of a man with a weathered mustache and some sort of retro haircut. By the looks of the man he’d been in combat for many years his calm expression of supremacy was starting to get on Leos nerve.

”Greetings.”

The image of the man flickered and the sound was as out of a rusty can, the transmission was very bad.

”I am captain Androu of the Alfa Armada.”

Leo waved to the camera.

”If there’s somebody there, I soggest you make your way to the microphobe, becaose I can’t see you, neither can I hear you.”

Leo moved towards the microphone, frustrated by the captains crude vocabulary he started rummaging through the debris. When he finally found the microphone he came to realize that it was no use, it was broken, and he wouldn’t be able to fix it.

The hallway outside started caving in even more and Leo had to make a choice; stay there to try to communicate, or make his way towards the surface. The choice was simple. He swiftly started moving towards the higher levels of the collapsed bunker.

When he was moving upstairs he got startled by a still breathing Hydralisk, after emptying a round of mercy into the Hydralisk he looked around for more indications of life.

”Over here.”

The soft whisper was as from a ghost, Leo looked around. After realizing that the only thing that could have made those words were the legless body leaning towards the wall he decided to investigate. As he suspected the corpse, who he had once before seen while having one of his meals was still breathing.

”Shit.” the silent whisper from the unknown comrade was saddening, yet somehow this one word made Leo feel like he was very similar to the man leaning against the wall.
”Yeah, shit.” Leo wiped some blood and gore away from the dying mans face.
”Don’t.” Leo stopped. Seeing the man lying there covered in blood and with his entrails scattered around was making a permanent impression on in his brain. Never before had the dead talked to him.
”Shit man.” Leo said, he could feel the sadness crawling up from the bottom of his heart and into his head where it later escaped through his eyes in form of tears.
”Hey, don’t go crying on me, I need you to do me a favor.” The man paused.
”I’m listening.” Leo forced the tears away.
”I need you to shoot me.”
”What?”
”I’m…”
”I can’t do that.”
”Hurts.” The man coughed up a lot of blood.
”Dude, I… I can’t shoot you!”
”…” The corpse leaned his head backwards to face Leo, the one eye still in the head was blooded and his face made Leo cry again.

Leo rushed to the cabin of medical supplies.
”Access denied my ass!” Leo shot of the hinges of the door and let it hit the floor. After rummaging through the cabin he returned with a big container of painkillers.

”This… this’ll kill you.”
”I can’t fucking feel anything anyway…” the still breathing corpse coughed.

With tears in his eyes Leo filled up a syringe with the anesthetic liquid.
”Good journey.” Leo put the syringe into the mans neck.

After emptying the syringe it was just a matter of seconds before the man took his last breath, a relieved sigh.

”Shit.”

Leo started moving towards the surface, on his way up his checked whoever could still possibly be alive for vital signs. The dead bodies gave him as much happiness as sadness, happiness that he’d not have to kill any more comrades, and sadness over their deaths.

Suddenly pain struck Leo, a hissing sound came from him as he gasped, as if his lung had suddenly been punctured. Then he realized that he was bleeding and there was a big sharp object coming out of his chest. Turning around he understood that the sharp object would be one of the spines fired from the mouth of a hydra, such as the one that was standing in front of him. ”You shot me in the back…” he thought. After 200 milliseconds that lasted forever Leo sent the remainder of his clip, approximately 900 bullets into the Hydralisk. Never before had he experienced such a violent recoil, nor had he experienced life in slow motion before.

Images of Leos father smiling at him after Leos first time bicycling seemed so clear, memories that Leo didn’t know he had started flooding his brain. The memory of Leos mother making Leos favorite food, spaghetti. Memory of Leos first day at school. The girl in his class that took his first kiss. The day Leo graduated. The day he moved away from home. The day he signed up to become an armored infantry trooper.

The ringing in his ears wouldn’t stop, the grounds was trembling underneath him, the air was growing thicker, the more air he drew the more the taste of blood reminded him what was going on, still, he couldn’t understand. Was this the end? What happened? Why is everyone dead? What am I doing here? The questions were many but at that time Leo didn’t have the calm to answer any of them.

He needed to get air. Air, to breathe when he stumbled through the room he once again started remembering the life he had lived, his first love, his first job, his first pay. No matter how pleasant the memories were, the impending presence of insignificance made the memories less… significant.

Leo started seeing the image of a woman, in his mind while stapling towards the surface, everything was starting to get darker. Everything was starting to fade, as he lowered his head the spine that was stuck inside his armor taunted him.

”Shit.”

Leo may seem like a man of few words, and that, he is. He never thought he would get this injured. The image of the woman was getting sharper for every step he took.

She was smiling. And what a wonderful smile it was, it filled Leo with joy and happiness, he started remembering her. ”You were… are… my wife…” Leo took a deep breath, the taste of blood spread in his mouth.

”I will help you.”
”What?” Leo opened his eyes wide open, and raised his weapon.
”I will help you.”
”Who are you?” Leo was in an empty room, he remember, seeing the room 3 weeks earlier, when he first submerged into the underground bunker, he was getting closer to fresh air, but in the empty room he was standing in, a womans voice could be heard.
”You tell me, who I am.” A womans figure emerged from nothingness in front of him.
”How the fuck could I know?!” The hissing sound of his broken lung was mocking him,  as he stumbled backwards raising his weapon to increase his accuracy.
”You are all out of bullets, Leo.” The womans voice was calming, soothing him, and almost had a curative effect on him.

The woman was covered in bandages, except for one eye, and when she talked, an empty gap opened up in the face of her. Her one visible eye was clear and vivid, the skin on the eyelid was smooth, clear and pure. Leo recognized that eye, from the picture he had so recently seen in his head.

”You’re my wife?” he stuttered.
”No, I’m afraid it’s not that simple.” Leo listened to the words, like the most beautiful song he had ever heard, even though the words were not sung.
”You have her eye.” Leo was starting to realize that he wasn’t going to survive, but he couldn’t give up hope, he was a warrior.
”I have many names Leo, and many shapes…”
”Shapes?” Everything was starting to become darker.
”Yes, I’m what you would call the angel of death.”
”Angel?”
”Yes.”
”For real?”
”Yes.”
”Oh really?”
The angel sighed; ”Ya really.”

A moment of silence struck the room.

”Shit”
”You say that a lot.”
”Yeah, I guess that’s what I think of this situation, funny ain’t it?”
”I don’t find the situation amusing.”
”Of course you don’t, your job is to take me away from here isn’t it?”
”No, my job is to help you.”
”Help me…”
”Yes, help you, but I’m afraid that you’ll never leave this place.”
”Thanks a lot, you were a great help…” Leo started walking again.

Leo put his gun down, and took of his helmet. Even though, his weight was not lightened, on the contrary, he had never felt such a heavy burden on his back. Leo had by now reached the angel. The bandages loosened and fell to the ground, uncovering what looked like Leos wife. She held forward her hand.

”Take my hand.”

Leo looked at the hand and then took it, at the same moment the angel repositioned herself underneath his arm and helped him stand, his weight was lightened and he felt almost as if he was floating.

”Where will you take me?” he asked.
”I need to show you something.” she answered.
”Are you dead as well?”
”Theoretically I’m neither dead or alive, if you’re referring to your wife no she’s not dead.”
”What size…?”
”43″
”How much…?”
”97 kilograms.”
”You don’t use pounds?”
”No, inches and pounds are the devils measurements, the metric system is sent from god to mankind.”
”Why do I have to die here?”
”I can’t answer that question for you. I can only tell you that it’s your time to go.”

The last door was closed, the stairs were completely smashed, from the constant stream of Zerg attackers, Leo thought. Leo looked at the angel.

”I don’t really exist… physically…” she said.

Leo kicked down the already bashed door which wasn’t really closed, just leaning towards the shell of the bunker from the outside.

Leo stapled out and collapsed on his back in the fresh air after staring at the sky for an eternity the angel came to him again, she was standing by his feet. She once again stretched forward her hand.

”Take my hand Leo.”