New Vegas: Sheason's Story - Chapter 172: Cashing Out

I may have spoken too soon.

All I managed was a measly three shots from the LAER before he closed the distance. Two of the beams impacted against his chest armor amid a shower of sparks, and the third hit his shoulder briefly, before glancing off. Didn’t have long to be surprised though, because that massive sword of his was coming straight for my face. And if that weren’t bad enough, the sword had set itself on fire again.

I tried to remind myself what Benny had told me, and focus on the fact that it wasn’t real. But even if the flames weren’t, that fucking sword was.

I rolled out of the way as fast as I could, but I wasn’t quite fast enough. The ground under my feet split apart with a monstrous explosion, showering me with sharp rocks and flying shrapnel. I tried to get back up on my feet, hoping that he hadn’t expected me to dodge that first strike-

WHAM!

The backhand of a massive fist came out of nowhere and hit me square in the chest with the force of a wrecking ball. I tumbled through the air like a ragdoll, only stopping when I slammed back-first into a huge cliff. I collapsed in a heap. Was that a cracked rib? Feels like a cracked rib.

“GHLK!” A massive hand wrapped itself around my throat and lifted me up off the ground. Lanius’ snarling, unmoving metal mask shoved itself in my face as he pinned me to the wall. The edges of my vision began to darken, but I kept struggling and squirming, trying to break free from his grip.

“So… this is the best you can muster, Man of the West?” his deep voice boomed and echoed with an inhumanly amplified depth; it felt like hot coals were being dragged across my eardrums. When he started to laugh, I got a rather unpleasant sensation of déjà vu. I had to derail this before it kept going the way I remembered.

“W-wait…” I managed to gasp out. His grip on my throat shifted, but didn’t let up.

“Wait?!” he bellowed with disdain. “Did you just say wait? Wait for what, profligate? Wait for me to change my mind? Wait for a few more seconds of life, because you’re soweak, you can’t bear to see it end?”

“N-n-no…” I coughed out, lifting a hand off his grip to shove my middle finger in his face. He leaned back and tilted his head, apparently confused… and that was just enough of a distraction for an earth shaking growl to come from above. His grip loosened and I dropped to the ground like a stone, just as a mass of scales, teeth, and bullets leapt down from above. Stripe tackled Lanius, and the two tumbled away as I got back on my feet.

“… wait for him to hit you…” I said, rubbing my neck and breaking into a run. I had to get to everyone, and get them back on their feet. Hell, I just had to make sure they were still –

“Sheason!” Christine’s voice buzzed over my helmet com. “Sound off! What’s going on down there? Everyone has gone silent!”

“Can’t you tell?” I hacked out between coughs, running straight for Cass; she was still alive by the looks of things. On her knees and holding her head like she had the mother of all migraines, but she was at least trying to get up off her knees.

“There’s some kind of dust storm,” Boone growled. “Visibility is zero.” FUCK!

“Just get down here!” I shouted. “It’s an illusion, just – look, we need all the guns, alright?!” I finally slid to a halt next to Cass, helping her up as best as I could. “Cass! C’mon, on your feet!”

“What th’ fu… th’ fuck was that?” Cass shook her head several times, clearly more than a little out of it. “There was some kinda… some…”

“No time to explain!” I grabbed her and gave her a good shake to snap her out of it. “You remember how we took down Panzer?” Cass blinked several times; off in the distance behind her, I saw at least two of the Remnants trying to get back on their feet.

“Wh- a’course I do! Why? Is –” I shoved the Jury-Rigger against her chest before she could finish.

“We’re gonna be needin’ more of the same!” I said, pulling out the Alien Blaster. Cass’ eyes immediately went wide.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be fuckin’ with me!” she shouted angrily, taking hold of the rifle just the same. “Don’t tell me he – LOOK OUT!” The next thing I knew, Cass was grabbing me by the head and shoving me to the ground. There was a loud roar directly overhead. I looked up just in time to see Stripe smashing upside-down into the ground in a flurry of flailing limbs and a giant dust cloud.

“Get everyone moving!” I shouted, leaping to my feet with the Alien Blaster at the ready. “We’re gonna need everyone’s help to bring this fucker down!”

By the time I turned around to face him, Lanius was already starting to advance on me… but he was very deliberately taking his time with every thunderous footstep. He dragged the tip of his enormous flaming sword against the rocky ground, tearing it up and spreading flames as he passed. His armor didn’t even look scratched from his tussle with Stripe.

“Do you really think you can win here?” Lanius’ voice echoed as he approached; while he spoke, the sky began to darken again, and the crows started to return. “I have shattered armies. My blade is wet with the blood of thousands who thought to stand against my might. I shall make a cape of your skin… and your skull shall sit mute by my side, forever watching in silence as I set fire to the West!”

“You talk too much… CORAX!” I yelled back at him, firing the alien blaster. He roared in fury, grabbed his sword with both hands, and broke into a run. The energy bolts burst in a shower of sparks and blue flame, which he simply ignored.

“That name -” he charged at me, completely unfazed as the blue fire curled into smoke around him. “- means NOTHING to me!” The jets in my boots rocketed me skyward just as he slammed the sword into the ground. The earth shattered, but I was already in the sky over his head; I kept firing the Alien Blaster until the energy cell clicked dry. The jets cut out; I twisted around in midair, popped out the empty cell and grabbed a fresh one, locking it in place just as I landed about a dozen feet behind him.

“Quite a reaction for somethin’ doesn’t mean nothin’!” I shouted back at him, pulling the grapnel gun out of my duster. He yanked his sword out of the ground, spraying flaming fragments of rock everywhere, and I just kept shooting at him. The illusions all around us seemed to flicker in and out of sight – but, rather tellingly, the flames around the sword didn’t.

“Enough!” he yelled, charging through the hail of plasma fire I was sending his way. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like the alien plasma was chipping away at his armor, slowly but surely.

“Face it! You’re nothing but a lab experiment, Corax!” I continued to mock, holstering the empty Alien Blaster and grabbing one of my last plasma grenades. “All your strength came from a test tube!” I dropped the primed grenade at my feet.

PKCHOONT!

I began to speed through the air just as Lanius closed the distance, and the grenade exploded under him in a ball of green flame… but I didn’t quite time it right. The shock wave from the explosion hit me in midair. I lost my grip on the grapnel gun, and crashed unceremoniously to the ground.

“Your toys won’t save you!” Lanius snarled, suddenly on top of me with his armor scorched and blackened from the plasma grenade. I didn’t have time to get away before the sword came down, so I did the only thing I could think of: I raised my Pip Boy to defend myself. The thing was strong enough to survive a direct hit from a nuke; it could handle a sword, right?

…right?

My helmet was showered in sparks, and a sharp pain shot through my left arm. The Pip Boy had stopped the strike from cleaving me in half, but the metal had buckled and the screen was cracked from the impact. A British voice inside my head was yelling and screaming about how that wasn’t possible, but I was too focused on keeping the sword from going any deeper into my arm to listen.

I grabbed the edge of the blade – still buried in my Pip Boy – with my cybernetic hand, and tried to throw him off. The blade came free, and I hit him in his helmet with a metal elbow. Something snapped, and it wasn’t me… this time. I had to get away before he could swing that thing again. I kicked off the ground and activated the jets in my boots…

“What the –” The jets were on full-blast, but I wasn’t going anywhere. I looked back, and my blood ran cold: Lanius was holding onto my left jet boot with an iron grip, keeping me fixed in place. Keeping me from escaping.

“Stop buzzing, insect,” he growled right before smashing his fist – wrapped around the handle of his sword – against my rocket boots. Sparks exploded with every strike, and I could feel the metal snap and buckle inward, sending shards of jagged metal slicing into my leg. Before I could grab any of my weapons or find a way to wriggle free, he tossed me aside like a ragdoll… but the jet from my right rocket boot was still on.

“SON OF A BIIIIIITCH!” I screamed, careening through the air wildly out of control. I couldn’t get the right boot to shut down…

SCHLUUNK!

“AUGH!” I screamed, as a white-hot pain stabbed through my midsection. It was like that one time in the Sierra Madre when a Ghost Person shoved a blade straight through my shoulder, only about a thousand times more intense. My vision started to blur around the edges, and I clutched desperately at my gut… and the gigantic piece of bloody rebar impaling me. It was clean through my midsection, even breaking through the Gun Runner armor. Off in the distance, Lanius started advancing on me again.

“I can see your doubt, degenerate,” he said, utterly certain that he had the upper hand. And considering my current impalement… “I can taste your fear. You are alone, whimpering like a frightened infant in the darkness…” As if to punctuate his words, more crows manifested out of thin air and circled overhead, blocking out the sun and casting us in darkness. He raised his flaming sword, and pointed it at me. “Let me… release you.”

“You’re… wrong…” I grunted out, trying to push past the pain – and more important, push myself off the giant spike sticking out of my stomach. He halted in his approach, as if confused by my words. “I’m not… not… alone…”

At that moment, a series of explosions hit him from behind, followed swiftly by a hail of minigun fire, blue LAER beams, and green plasma bolts. He seemed to be slightly staggered by the attacks, and the crows above us began to disappear, one by one.

I could see Cass at the edges of my vision, firing her AA-12 with one hand and the Jury-Rigger with the other; the Remnants were also on their feet, and I could see Kreger, Johnson, and Henry in their sets of power armor, advancing and firing at Lanius. And then, appearing through the haze of smoke that seemed to surround the area, Stripe appeared, bounding forward on all fours. He hit Lanius with the force of a freight train, all while Sasha kept laughing and yelling in Russian, firing the minigun and sending sparks flying everywhere.

While he was busy fighting them, I grabbed hold of the rebar with my cybernetic hand and tried to push myself off the spike impaling me. Every single part of me started screaming, and it felt like I was on the verge of passing out… but I knew that I couldn’t. Not yet. Anger and rage filled my thoughts, and flooded into every part of me, pushing away the pain.

“AUGH!” I screamed, pushing against the spike one last time. I felt it pop out my back; blood was flowing like a river from the hole, and I could already feel the icy wet chill spilling down both sides of my leg. “Aw, fuck… what’s a guy gotta do t’get killed ’round here… Argh!” I reached behind me for the medkit, pulling out a stimpack with trembling hands and plunging it into the open wound. If I was lucky, it would keep me going…

… long enough to finish the job, if nothing else.

I got back on my feet, tossed aside the spent stimpack, pulled out a fresh energy cell, and popped it into the Alien Blaster. Lanius had his back to me, because he was still grappling with Stripe; he grabbed the big guy by one of the horns, and slammed the deathclaw into the ground. Sasha wasn’t firing the minigun, because it looked like the ends of the barrels had been sheared off. Lanius’ cape was torn, and his armor was starting to show signs of wear; there was even a bit of blood leaking out of the cracks.

Time for me to get his attention again.

“OI! FUCKFACE!” I yelled, taking careful aim. He turned at the sound, just in time to get a face full of plasma. He recoiled from the hit, apparently surprised that I was back on my feet so quickly. But he shook it off, sending globs of molten plasma flying off his charred and blackened helmet.

“Insolent reprobate!” he yelled, advancing on me as I kept shooting him. “You don’t know when to give up, do you?!”

“Nope!” I shot back. Thankfully, Lanius was unaware that everyone else behind him had stopped firing. Veronica was coming at him, right in his blind spot, and everyone had ceased fire long enough to give her a clear path. He raised his sword high over his head just as Veronica closed the distance, slamming Oh, Baby! directly against his back.

“ARGH!” he blurted out. Lanius lost his grip on his sword, and he almost lost his balance – not quite toppling forward, but no longer steady on his feet. I tossed the Alien Blaster into my fleshy hand, balled my cybernetic hand into a fist, and I slammed it dead center in the middle of his chest. He started falling back again… only for the unmistakable bellow of Boone’s anti-materiel rifle to discharge from off in the distance. An instant later, an explosion detonated against the side of his armor. A volley of plasma and minigun fire came from the Remnants on his other side, continuing to keep him off balance. Then Cass came back into view firing her AA-12, and more explosions burst against his armor.

Suddenly, the fire stopped. I don’t know about everyone else, but I could see that Cass, at the very least, was reloading. Lanius was standing in the middle of us, armor bloody and blackened from so much fire, his shoulders slumped, his breathing heavy, and with huge clouds of smoke pouring out of the many molten holes in his armor.

“Y-you haven’t won…” he grunted out. “I still –”

WHAM!

Stripe came charging out of nowhere, hitting Lanius and sending him flying through the air, limbs flailing helplessly. The Monster of the East tumbled head over heels in a completely undignified manner, smashing into the side of the cliff where we’d first seen him emerge – taking out both crucifixes in the crash – and disappearing out of sight. Stripe bellowed in triumph, shaking the ground with his roar; Sasha joined him in cheering, thankfully unaffected by the damage to the minigun. Everyone else quickly followed suit, convinced that had finished him off… but it was in that moment that I remembered what Tuera had said to me at our last meeting:

“He left without confirming the kill.” She chuckled. “He always was sloppy…”

I started moving with only a little bit of difficulty, walking to the path that led up to the cliff. I looked down at the Pip Boy as I made my way there. The screen – what little was left – was flickering and warped, and it was still vomiting sparks from the giant gash on top. Lanius had done the impossible, breaking the unbreakable. I muttered about half a dozen curses as I unbuckled the latches keeping it in place. By the time I was halfway up the path, I undid the final clasp and let it fall off my arm to the ground like the piece of twisted metal junk it had become.

“Ughhh…” I heard a pained moan come from ahead as I reached the top of the path. Sure enough, the tough bastard was still alive, lying against the ground in a bloody, blackened heap, trying desperately to get back up. I walked up to his writhing form, and stood over him, planting my boot against his chest to try and force him back down.

“You… call that… a fight?” Lanius grunted out between coughs. Blood was leaking from the mouth hole in his blackened helmet. I knelt down, grabbing hold of the edge of his chest armor, and balling my cybernetic hand into a fist again.

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” I sighed with exhaustion. He feebly tried to reach up to stop me, but couldn’t bring his arms to bear in time. After the first hit, his arms fell back down to the ground. And then I hit him again. And again. And again. And again. By the fifth hit, his helmet had started to bend and warp from the impacts… so I decided to make good on my promise. I reached down and grabbed his helmet with both hands, ripping it off his head.

His face looked like bloody chunks of ground beef, but his bloodshot green eyes were still wide open, staring at me with concentrated malice. I spun the helmet around in my hands, so that the horns – and the huge blade on top – were aimed squarely at his face.

He pulled what was left of his lips back in a snarl, coughed out a laugh, and spat blood at my face.

I brought the helmet down onto his head as hard as I could, again and again and again. I must have I kept at the pounding for a solid minute, because by the time I was done, the bloody soup that used to be his head was just as concave as Benny’s face had been. He wasn’t moving anymore… but I sure as FUCK wasnot going to take any chances with this tough son of a bitch. I placed the blade on the top of his helmet against his neck, and shoved down against it with all the might my cybernetic hand could muster.

There was a squelch of slicing meat, followed by a sharp snap of bone. I pulled the helmet away, and watched as the severed lump of meat that used to be a head roll away unevenly along the ground. Every illusion evaporated into thin air, and everything seemed to return to normal. Or… Okay, yeah, it was normal for a place that was littered with corpses and still mostly on fire.

I grunted, pushing up off the headless corpse, with Lanius’ helmet still in my hand. The pain in my side (and my arm, and everywhere else, really…) was starting to return as my anger evaporated, but I made my way to the edge of the cliff just the same. Everyone below was looking up as I emerged… and when I held aloft his bloody, ruined helmet, I was met with resounding, deafening cheers.

“You guys should probably get out of here…” I muttered to Kreger a few minutes later. He’d taken his helmet off and was keeping it tucked under his arm, so I could see him smile and nod at me. “There’d be too many awkward questions if you’re still around when the NCR show up.”

“Daisy’s already on her way for pickup,” he said in that smooth-as-butter voice of his. “I told her there’s no danger of rockets anymore, but she’s still a bit leery.”

“Can you blame her after what happened at Klamath?” Johnson chimed in. “After that crash, I’d be over-cautious, too.”

“We’re wasting time…” Henry added from the back. “We need to go.”

I gave them one last wave goodbye, and after Kreger put his helmet back on, the three of them stomped off – presumably to go pick up the pieces of Orion. He may have been an asshole that nobody really liked, but he was their asshole; after fighting alongside the other Remnants for so long, the least they could do was give him a proper burial.

Pain shot through my side again, and I clutched at the bloody hole in my gut. It felt like I was running on sheer willpower alone, and it was only a matter of time before… before… but I wasn’t done yet. I’d broken the Legion, but the NCR had to get their swift kick in the nuts as well before the day was done.

Once I did that, then I could rest.

“Yes Man…” I tapped the side of my helmet, unable to disguise the weariness in my voice. “How goes the evacuation?”

“It’s going excellently, sir!” Yes Man said, oblivious to my current state. “Well over 50% of the securitron army has been activated, and by my calculations, an estimated 95% of the enemy combatants have been neutralized! I’ve been working to find the slaves and free them. One thing is for sure: we’ll have plenty of defused explosive collars when this is done!”

“Fan-fuckin’-tastic…” I said with a sigh. “Look, I’m… I’m curious ’bout something.” I coughed, clutching at my side again. C’mon, push past the pain. “Th-those slaves you’ve rescued. Is there a little girl there? About 10, black hair, answers to the name of Melody?”

There was a very long pause.

“I’m not sure!” Yes Man eventually replied. “I haven’t had time to conduct a proper census. But I’ll ask around. If I find her, you’ll be the first to know!”

“Good… good…” I said, nodding a bit pointlessly. “One other thing: think you can spare a few dozen securitrons, and send them my way? I’ve got a feeling…”

I trailed off, because at that particular moment I heard the unmistakable sound of heavy combat boots marching in unison – and getting closer with every second.

“Yeah, I’m gonna need those right away,” I said. I hung my head and sighed, continuing to clutch the wound at my side. The stimpack had only taken me so far, and the hole kept splitting open… But I grit my teeth and ignored it just as I felt a hand pat my shoulder several times.

“Not a bad bit’ve work, I’d say,” Cass laughed, giving my shoulder a shake. I wobbled unsteadily, but did my best to retain my balance. Cass furrowed her brow at me and looked concerned. “Y’alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied through my teeth, just as the marching boots got louder and louder. Eventually, the owners of the footsteps emerged from behind one of the walls and into view. It was a platoon of NCR Rangers in Black Armor, flanking a tall man with a large beer gut and wearing a General’s uniform – complete with peaked cap, an officer’s long coat, four stars on his collar and an NCR bear tie clip keeping his olive-green tie from flapping in the wind. Even though it was obvious who he was, the nametag above his left shirt pocket identified him as “OLIVER” just the same.

General Wait-And-See himself had finally deigned to make an appearance. Typical. The NCR doesn’t show up in force until all the hard work is done. Time to take these fuckers down a peg or three.

“I got this,” I said, waving Cass off, and moving forward to meet the General halfway. He surveyed the carnage all around us, and let out a satisfied whistle.

“Been a long time since I’ve seen the kind of work you’ve laid down here today,” he said, clearly working under the misapprehension that we were allies. “Damn long time. And the screams of those Legion bastards as they kicked dirt, running East? Like a choir of angels to my ears!” I held back a smirk. Guess nobody told him that I wasn’t taking prisoners. “Speaking of – that crazy lightshow over the Fort? What the fuck was that? Some kind of thumb from God you called down? Amazing. Fucking amazing.”

“I know,” I said simply. He laughed, apparently not understanding that I was making fun of him.

“Could use a hundred of you!” he continued. “Just scatter you over the East like jacks, give those plumed fucks the what-for!”

“Yeah, you think that’s great?” I chuckled… which ended up being more of a cough, really. “Trust me Oliver… you won’t believe what happens next…”

Precisely on schedule – and exactly what I was hoping for when I had Yes Man send them this way – a good twenty or thirty securitrons all seemed to appear from nowhere. The Rangers in Black Armor seemed to look around nervously, as they realized their escape route was now effectively cut off. Oliver’s eyes went wide in confusion and alarm.

“And… uh…” he coughed nervously. “Well. These, uh… are these boys with you?” He cleared his throat again, tugging at his collar. “Uh… hello there, uh, smiley.”

“Hello!” Yes Man’s voice sounded off from a securitron directly behind me. Oliver laughed nervously, walking closer to me. Maybe he thought they wouldn’t fire if they were worried about collateral damage? He cleared his throat again, and started to reach into his coat as he spoke.

“Guess it ain’t no secret how you…” he froze mid-sentence when he realized that the securitrons behind him had all draw their weapons. “Uh… I say, can you ask them to put their weapons down? Was just… reaching in my coat to give you a cigar, that’s all.” As if to prove his point, he pulled out his hand, clutching a metal cigar tube, and held it aloft. I looked back at Cass, who just smiled and shook her head.

“Listen, Oliver,” I coughed again, and I could start to feel a bit of blood pooling up inside the bottom of my helmet. “The Dam is won… for Vegas. The NCR was already in full retreat by the time I showed up, so I’d say you and the Legion have both lost. I suggest you leave before my ‘boys’ open fire on your men.”

Oliver dropped the cigar in his hands and looked at me with shock and indignation. His mouth curled into a snarl, and his brow furrowed into a nasty scowl.

“I would sooner spit on the grave of my dead mother than let some courier-walk-the-wasteland-fuck like you talk to me like that. Who the fuck do you think you are? You looking to ‘cash your chips’ to the sound of NCR bullets, huh? I can oblige.” I sighed. Of course the shithead wasn’t going to do this the easy way.

“Last chance, Oliver,” I grumbled. “Leave on your feet… or leave wrapped in your flag. Your choice.” Oliver clenched his teeth. Obviously, he wasn’t used to people disregarding him with such contempt.

“Do you really want to do this, sonny? You really think I’m gonna make tracks out of here, head back West with my tail between my legs with nothing to show for it?” he growled at me through his clenched teeth. “No. I came for a fight today, and if you’re lookin’ to make me budge, then you better have a damn good left hook, because I’m not going anywhere.” I chuckled and shook my head, which just seemed to piss him off more. “Something funny?”

“What, you think these robots are the only Ace up my sleeve?” I asked with a laugh that gave way to a cough. “If you think that’s true, then you really are as dumb as you look!” Oliver sneered at me in disgust.

“Yeah, well, right now, they’re all that’s standing here – ‘cept for the corpses.” He snorted derisively and folded his arms across his chest. “So, that’s your plan? Hold the Dam here all by your lonesome?”

“While the Boomers fly west in their fully armed B-29?” I shrugged, chuckling again. “Yeah, that works for me.”

General Oliver’s jaw dropped, and all the color seemed to drain from his face.

“They… they wouldn’t,” he practically whispered. I shrugged again.

“Are you so sure about that? After all, I only suggested they come down to visit Hoover Dam, and then, the next thing you know…” I mimed an explosion with my hands. “Boom.” Oliver’s eye twitched. “Face it, Oliver. I’m holding a Full House, and all you’ve got are a pair of twos.”

“This has been a fuck of a day,” he muttered under his breath before shaking his head and attempting to rally one last time. “Do you know what you’re doing? Making a nation – like you think you’re doing – ain’t a walk in the park, boy. Think you got the guts to carve out a frontier? Build towns, protect the roads, run supplies, train troops?” I just laughed again.

“Can’t do a worse job than you idiots, that’s for damn sure,” I said, clutching my side again and hoping that I wasn’t being too obvious. It was really starting to bleed badly again.

“You motherfucker…” Oliver said, backing up again – but not so far that he wasn’t able to point at my face. “You need to seriously think about what you’re doing here. Because you’re not just pissin’ on me – you’re pissin’ on the Bear. The claw of the Bear cuts deep… and I think you’ve been far enough West to know just how far that claw stretches. When the NCR comes at you again – and we will – we won’t stop coming until we get what’s ours. So you best pray you’re ready, because if our situations are ever reversed, I’ll see you hang.” I shook my head.

“Nuts,” I sighed, turning to the large and imposing robot next to me. “Yes Man? Please throw the ‘good’ General off the Dam.” Several of the Black Armor troops started to raise their rifles only to be turned into superheated piles of ash by the securitons all around. The rest dropped their weapons and put their hands in the air.

“Gladly!” Yes Man said, rolling around me with his claw arm outstretched. Oliver started backing away again.

“Wh- what the hell?! No, get – get away from – AGH!” His frantic screams were suddenly muffled as the claw wrapped itself around his head; Oliver started squirming as Yes Man picked him up and started carrying him away.

“Hello, General Oliver!” Yes Man said happily to the man struggling against his metal grip. “The disappointment you are about to experience delights me!” It didn’t take long for the muffled screams of Oliver to fade away as he was carried off into the distance. One by one, everyone seemingly started to disperse, while I stood fixed in place.

I don’t think I could’ve moved if I even tried. I was finally starting to feel extremely dizzy. The blood was really flowing heavily out of my gut wound now. Behind me, I heard Cass laugh out loud.

“Fuck me, man!” Cass said, between bouts of laughter. “Remind me t’get you some polish later fer those massive brass balls o’yers! Fuck sake!” Eventually, her laughter began to die down before coming to a halt completely. “… Shea? Sheason? Are y’alright, man?”

That was around the time I lost my balance, and fell flat on my back. I hit the ground with a loud, heavy thud. But it didn’t really feel too bad… probably because I’d lost a lot of feeling, along with all the blood.

“Oh, fuck! Sheason!” I heard Cass say from somewhere above me. As I laid there against the ground, I felt hands clutch at me. “Shea! Say something?!” The hands reached up and unbuckled my helmet, pulling it free of my head… but I could barely see anything. My vision was too cloudy with blood.

At first, I couldn’t speak. I was too exhausted. And this ground was really comfortable. Cass took my face in her hands, and lifted me up off the ground; I looked up at her and gave her a weak smile.

“S’been… hell’ve… ride…” I muttered weakly. I tried to lift my hand, but I was far too weak to move. I was just so tired…

“God damnit! Don’t you even think about it, you selfish fuck!” she shouted, holding me close; with every second, her voice seemed to grow more distant. “No! No, we ain’t done yet, you son of a bitch! Sheason! Sheason!? Fuck sake!”

My vision faded into darkness. Every sound around me drifted away into silence. Every part of me turned cold.

I just wanted to sleep.