A doctor greets me amongst the chatter in the medical bay, "You alright?" I point to my legs, "My legs hurt." The doctor shakes his head, "On your legs?" I knock on the legs, "I can feel their pain." He raises his brow, "You're not supposed to feel anything down there." I wince, "Just fix it." He scratches his head and rushes over to the computer. "CHEETAH 6.571..." He takes out a wrench and unscrews a panel on my leg. "What're you doing?" "Turning off the legs" I grab his arm, "Fuck no, you aren't!" "You'll keep feeling pain, we'll get you legs that aren't defective."
I am not going back to being useless. Not one more fucking second. I twist his wrist, "It's part of me now, got it!?" He yells as I twist harder, "Yeah! Okay!" After letting go, they all stare, some of them murmuring, I sit back down and secure the panel as Foxtrot points, "Why they calling you Shotgun Garvey?" "You don't wanna find out." She leers back before moving along, "I actually would love to."
I hop down and the legs start poking at my brain. "The fuck?" The pokes stop while walking to the range. "Bolt!" Tango waves and my legs start to jog on their own. What the hell? They stop awkwardly close to her and I smile, "It's the legs." She squints, scoots back and picks up a shotgun. "Here, use it." I back up slowly, "Nah, I'm good" "Oh come o-" She shoves it into my hands and a flash overwhelms me,
Rollins was to my left and my boss on the right. "Garvey, come on! That's an order!" "Fuck your orders!" I ran to Rollins.
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I drop it immediately and grab at my forehead, I'm not touching that again. Tango tilts her head. "Ar-are you
crying?" I wipe the tears away quick. "If you wanna talk-" "Gotcha." I pull out my pistols, storm off into a booth and
shoot one at a time. With each shot, I imagine my clone as the target, but he just keeps dodging comically. It's pissin' me off! Zero grabs onto me, "Why did you shoot everything but the target?" He disappeared from the target, "Just because." "Where'd you learn that aim bot shit?" I laugh, "I just point-" I raise the pistol and shoot the real target's forehead. "And shoot." The target starts to bleed from the bullet hole.
He scoffs as Tango sneaks over, "Can we go eat now?" I shake my head. Where's all the blood? Am I losing my shit again? Zero stretches, "Thank god they have MRE's!" They drag me down to the mess hall. Foxtrot's team of three flags us down. As we sit across from them, Foxtrot talks with Zero. "What'd they give you, Bolt?" I take my spork and take a bite of the fancy slop. The heavenly taste and smell lingers, "Steak and mash?" She cups her chin with one hand, "Ughh, macaroni." "Could be worse." She nudges my arm, "How?" "Could be eating slop in a soup kitchen." Why'd I say that? Rollins comes back into my mind. I frown, he's there living with nothing, but in good company. "Could I pry?"
I sigh and take another bite before giving her another word, "I was homeless for who knows how long." "Any family?" I bow my head, "Sorry." "Don't be, I got the men responsible." All except the one who couldn't protect them. I stand up and leave my tray. "Wait!" Zero holds her back, "Let him go." After finishing the slop, I slowly make it to the men's bunks. "Bolt, you're 68." Damn, one off. I march to the bunk, rip off my gear and plop in. I just had to open old wounds, didn't I? I hope I can see them tomorrow.