Woe

The room was as sterile as it was silent, Amit had long since given up on not thinking about it, not that he’d ever been that successful in the first place. Slathered in biogel and wrapped in bandages, the stump that lay across the sheets where his leg had once been was reminder enough.
 
It hadn’t been the bone exploding into a thousand pieces that hurt, not even as the splinters tore through every imaginable tendon and ligament, no, what hurt the most was her. Years they’d been side by side, his doting affections dismissed in her usual cold indifference to everything in the world. Deep down he knew she was a reliable teammate, but he hadn’t been sure if she’d ever really seen the rest of them as her friends.
 
Then she rushed out of that building, through rubble and gunfire he’d witnessed something he would’ve never imagined, something he still had trouble accepting wasn’t just an effect of the blood loss; she came for him. In her voice he’d heard emotion, true fear in every word, something as alien to her as the Covenant. Shima, the girl who never laughed, cried, or smiled, who never once did anything but what she was ordered, broke rank to save him. 
 
Amit didn’t know if he was reading too deeply into it, and the unknown only made the gaping emptiness inside him grow larger as it tore him apart from the inside and threatened to swallow him whole. When the shot rang out, he was screaming before she hit the ground. Her shields popped in an instant, the side of her GUNGNIR helmet caved inward as a pink mist sprayed out.
 
He’d screamed as her limp corpse fell down next to him, he’d screamed as Sergei hefted him up and over his shoulder, he’d screamed as Franklin cradled her lifeless body in his arms, he’d screamed in unrelenting agony, tears streaming down his face until Felicia put him under. She’d died for him.
 
Why had she died for him?
 
A lone tear streaked down Amit’s dark cheeks as he stared blankly at the featureless wall, not bothering to turn as a massive figure entered the room. “Just wait another week, please.” He pleaded, not taking his eyes away from the spot on the wall, his hands resting on the railing along the bed. “Wait until I can come with you.” The Spartan practically begged.
 
“You know that ‘zey will have the both of us somewhere secure by then, and that the bitch will have disappeared like ghost.” The figure spoke, taking a seat in a chair D233 knew was far too small. His blood began to boil at the mention of the traitor, his fists clenching around the reinforced metal, forcing it to crumple under the pressure.
 
“But this is my fault Sergei.” Amit managed, his head turning to face the burly Spartan he called brother. It was funny, after augmentations Amit was hardly recognizable with the massive muscles and sharp blue eyes, but Sergei? He’d always been built like tank, even as kids, and his icy gaze had been the same unforgiving azure as the day they met. He’d practically been born a Spartan, and Amit’s demons told him that Sergei blamed Amit’s inadequacies for Shima’s death. “It’s my fucking fault.”
 
A hand came to rest on his shoulder, and his friend shook his head. “You did not pull the trigger, the blame is on no one but Andra.” Sergei assured him, both their faces turning to scowls at the mention of D054’s name.
“They’ll have me fitted with a THERMOPYLAE in a few days Sergei, just wai-”
“Zey’ are putting us on ice Amit, tomorrow.”
His heart dropped as dread crossed his face, ONI had a better handle on them than he’d thought, so much for them being unpredictable. “There is no time to wait brother,” Sergei sighed through his slavic accent. “I-we cannot let her go unavenged.”
A soft chuckle escaped Amit as he nodded his head in acceptance. “I ‘vill make it hurt.” D167 assured him, rising up and heading to the door before coming to a brief halt. “What do you think she would say of this?” The soon to be AWOL Spartan inquired. 
“Nothing,” Amit sighed weakly. “She never said much about anything, doubt this would be different.” 
Sergei nodded, and dragged two fingers over an imaginary visor, and opened the door as Amit returned the gesture, disappointment hanging heavy in his heart.
Category:The Weekly