Burning for You

Written by Violetofen4.

The world around me grew dizzy and dark. Lights flared, red, yellow, orange. Screams of angry men. I stumbled for a moment, but suddenly I'm not, I'm caught by strong hands.

"Roach, hang in there!"

It's the voice of Ghost, but for a moment I'm not sure where he is. I catch the glint of his ominous skull visor. I think he dropped his gun somewhere, but there is no more furious cries. Hazy the world seems to me, fizzing away from my mind and melting around me.

For a moment I shudder as if there were real flames engulfing me, but I hang on to the fragments of my life by Ghost's grip.

There's a Pave Low. I hear the loud hum of its propellars as it beats the air in a jussled tornado-like fashion. Shepard is there. He looks pleased. Too pleased. But Ghost seems unfazed.

"We're almost here!" Ghost breathes in relief. I'm still being half-dragged across the ground. Shepard smiles again.

"Do you have the DSM?" he asks pleasurely. I twitch uncontrollably in discomfort.

"We got it, sir."

Suddenly Shepard withdraws a silver, polished up magnum.

"Good, that's one loose end."

BANG!

I collapsed to the ground. My abdomen was shattered, everything hurt. Outside, I was silent. Inside, I was screaming. My mouth gaped open as my breathing quickened. I tried to control myself. No, not yet, this couldn't be happening!

"NO!" Ghost roared, but it was too late. The gun popped again, right in his forehead, creating folds and broken glass where his visor was. I could see the bullet marks. It was a clean, simple kill. Beside me plopped down the body of my friend.

"No Ghost, you can't die!" I thought, but my mouth refused to move.

"Area Sanitized, all targets destroyed," "Solid copy, no movement detected. 2-6 going into a holding pattern." I could hear the voices of Shadow Company soldiers. The wound in my side burned again as I was dragged into what seemed to be a ditch. A foul scenting liquid was being poured all over us...

Gasoline! I tried to move, cry out, anything, but I felt frozen to the spot from the pain.

Then all that was left was Shepard. He grabbed his cigar, flicking off a few musky tufts, then threw it out on top of us.

I fainted briefly for a moment, but awoke in the midst of my soul on fire. My life was burning away from me. Yet through all the pain and all the suffering I felt, I had the last strength to turn to Ghost. Shepard's Pave Low had gone. All that remained was me and my deceased friend.

And I would burn.

Burn for you...