Chapter 11: Pitfall
Blake’s phone set off an alarm, causing him to burst wide awake. He was ready and prepared for any danger that he faced off on his third day on the run. He turned off the alarm and rubbed his head, which was feeling as if a hammer was pounding constantly against it. Sleeping on a cold, hard patch of mud near a riverbed was certainly not the wisest choice to spend the night, but the area provided excellent cover in the event that he was attacked.
Feeling parched, he drank a small amount of water from his water bottle. He regretted not having any liquid-purifying pills, as he would be able to refill his bottle and not worry about becoming ill. If worse came to worse, he would just have to drink from a river or a stream, even if it’s contaminated with bacteria. One of his number one priorities was making sure he had a decent supply of water. If he ran out, he wouldn’t be able to last much longer. He was already dealing with the constant nagging of hunger and exhaustion. He figured he was just going to have to add thirst to his ever-growing list of things that were trying to kill him.
He struggled even to get on his two feet, as his legs were trying to drag him down every inch that he attempted to move them. He coughed several times, fearing that he may have caught the cold or the flu. Any disease would expend precious energy, and he only had a little left in his reserves.
“Why did my parents have to choose Europe?” Blake asked himself. “Why couldn’t it have been Canada? At least they’ve got pancakes. Man, I could go for some pancakes right about now.” He chucked to himself, craving the delectable breakfast food, and then began to trudge onward, wherever that was. For all he knew, he could be traveling in circles or triangles or nonagons. He honestly didn’t care where he was going, as long as it was away from them.
He brought out his iPhone once again, and hit the camera app. He recorded himself again, telling the experiences he had the day before. He really didn’t have much to say, so he decided that it wouldn’t be worth the trouble to try and upload the video to the internet.
By now, Blake had become disgusted with the sight of trees. He had seen nothing but trees for the last couple of days, and now he would pick any other place to be, whether it was the dry Nevadan desert, the Antarctic wasteland, or any other perilous climate or landform.
He then heard the continuous beat of a helicopter heading towards him. Oh, son of a bitch, Blake thought. He searched the clearing around him, looking for a place where he would be concealed from any prying eyes that may happen to catch a glimpse of him. There was nothing but a tiny river and a few tall, elegant evergreens here and there. The nearest cluster of forest was about a hundred yards in any direction. The beat was drawing even closer, probably less than a mile off, and he still had no place to run or hide.
“Looks like this is where my journey ends,” Blake said, clicking the safety off on his AK-47. “I tried to run and that failed. If I’m gonna die here and now—” he chuckled for a second “—I’m gonna take a few of you dirty white-headed bastards with me.” He aimed his down the iron sights in the direction of the chopper, based on where he could hear it coming from.
Seconds seemed to pass by like minutes as he waited for the chopper to enter its sights. He knew that the enemies’ cockpits could be visible from the ground. Even though the shielding protecting the pilot would be bulletproof, there may be a chance that a bullet may get through and nail the pilot, causing the chopper to crash. Sure, it was a one in a million chance, but at this point he didn’t really care.
Once the chopper came into view, his itchy trigger finger squeezed on the trigger, and several bullets were sent flying to the air. The bullets harmlessly ricocheted off the chopper’s thick armor. Blake cursed and was about to fire again, but he saw something that lifted his spirits and gave him new hope. “United States Marine Corps” was printed in fine, white text on the side of the twin-bladed chopper. At first, the teenager couldn’t believe his eyes. He blinked several times, just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, but the fine print was still there. The chopper began its descent into the clearing. Blake smiled and ran off to the side away from the landing zone, as becoming human sushi was not one of the things he wanted to experience.
The moment the chopper touched the ground, a hatch protruding out of the back opened, making a mechanical gear-grinding type sound. Several marines made their ways out of the chopper, and Blake ran up to meet them.
“He’s over here!” one the marines said, pointing a finger at Blake. He found himself met by five soldiers with bulking muscles and miscellaneous weaponry. They were all dressed in heavy forest camouflage, with face paint and all the other items you would typically see in modern war movies.
“So… I assume you’re Blake Johnson then?” one of the soldiers asked, his voice sounding fairly deep and rough.
“Yeah, I am,” Blake replied.
“Well, at least we now know that your video of yours wasn’t fake,” another soldier said. It was to Blake’s surprise that this was a woman, probably in her early twenties.
“What do you mean by that?” Blake asked, curious as to what they were talking about.
“Kid, you sparked up a lot of debate in the White House when that video was posted,” the first soldier said. “But when we noticed that one of our own American flights went missing, the Department of Defense did a little research to figure out what was goin’ on. Turns out a civil war broke out here in Switzerland.”
“A civil war?” Blake asked. “If it’s a civil war, then why did my flight get shot down? Why would they target innocent lives?”
The soldier simply shrugged. “We’ve got no clue, kid. We don’t know if it was done out of some sort of terrorist attack, or whether the rebels didn’t want anyone witnessing what was goin’ on down here. Either way, they’ve still killed American lives.”
“Sir, we can tell him everything he wants to know on the way back to the firebase. We need to get out of hostile territory as soon as possible,” the female soldier said.
“Alright, Simmons, we better go,” the soldier said. He grabbed Blake’s arm and began to lead him to the chopper. If they were addressing this guy as “sir”, he was probably the Sergeant or Lieutenant or whatever commanding officer of the bunch. Blake nicknamed the guy grasping onto his bicep as Leader.
A rocket was then launched from seemingly out of nowhere, shooting off in a high pitched squeal. The rocket detonated inside the cockpit of the grounded chopper, causing an enormous explosion, also sending off several heat waves. Fortunately for Blake and the rest of the Marines, they were just out of the initial blast zone, and survived the detonation relatively unscathed.
“Holy shit!” another soldier said, bringing up his weapon to bear. “Where the fuck did that come from?”
“Right over there, there’s a bad guy hiding behind those bushes!” the female soldier replied, pointing at a bushel of shrubs. Blake’s heart began racing the millisecond he realized he was now in the middle of a combat zone. He began hyperventilating as his worst fears were finally coming true. He didn’t understand how they caught up so quickly, as he believed he had finally shaken them off.
“Rodriguez, Simmons, and Cannon, I want you guys to lay covering fire while Benson and I check to see if any of our pilots are alive. Understood?” Leader asked.
“Sir, yes, sir,” the four Marines saluted in unison.
Leader then turned to Blake. “And you,” he said, pointing his index finger at Blake. “I want you to stick to me like gum on a shoe. You got that?”
Blake gulped. “Yeah, I got it.”
“And one more thing,” he said, his gaze giving off a fiery sort of sensation. “For the love of God, do not use that thing—” he shifted his finger to the AK-47 Blake was gripping “—unless it’s one-hundred percent absolutely necessary.” Several gunshots rang into the air like the bells of a church.
“Alright, let’s move, move, move!” Leader commanded, sprinting his way to the helicopter that was already erupting into a tower of flames. A somewhat skinny man Blake recognized as Benson was following close behind. The other three began squeezing the triggers to their automatic weapons, sending dozens of bullets towards their attacker. Blake, so caught up in the moment, almost forgot that he was supposed to be sticking to the leader. He charged towards the downed chopper as well, hearing several bullets whiz by his head. His stomach knotted up, realizing that he was now a target. He did not stop running until he made it to the chopper. He ducked behind it, hearing the chink, chink, chink of bullets pouncing against the heavy metal. There must be a lot more than just one guy with a rocket launcher, Blake thought, gasping for air.
“Dell’s still breathing!” he heard Benson shout joyously.
“I’ve got your M4. Just grab her and let’s get the hell out of here!” Leader said. More gunshots were echoing off in the forest, as if it were the climax of an aggressive symphony. Blake couldn’t see what was going on. Smoke began to blur his vision, and he started coughing maddeningly. As desperate as he wanted to leave the thick smog, he knew that if he left his current cover for even a brief second, he would get shot and the fight for survival would be over. He had no body armor, bulletproof vests, or any type of helmet to protect him from incoming fire.
He then noticed two silhouettes emerge from the thick smoke. One was very distorted, looking as if it were a very large human with a hunchback. It took Blake’s brain a moment to process that it was Benson carrying the pilot over his shoulder.
“Kid, what’d I say about stickin’ to me?” Leader accused, pulling Blake out of the smoke. “I want you to make a break for the tree line on the opposite side of the clearing. The rest of us will cover you and Benson! Now, go, go, go!”
Blake didn’t think about it for another second. Using all the energy he had left reserved, he dashed towards edge of the clearing, exactly as leader had ordered. He didn’t turn his head once, even though his instincts were telling him to check to see how far behind the rest of the Marines were. He was panting heavily as his tennis shoes were rhythmically striking against the mud and dirt. He jumped over the small river in one gigantic leap, and continued onwards.
“They’ve got tanks, man! They’ve got fucking tanks!” one of the Marines shouted. Despite his best efforts to keep his eyes forward, Blake instinctively turned his head around to see if it was true. Unfortunately, it was. A pair of heavily armored vehicles of death and destruction on tracks were headed towards the small group, mowing down any tree in their paths. For some reason, tanks looked more menacing than ever before. It was if they had arrived straight from the deepest pits of hell and they were there to wreak havoc on every living soul.
“Oh man, I’m never gonna make it out of this damned hellhole alive!” Blake thought aloud, his steps now becoming unbalanced and awkward.
“Keep running, kid! Don’t stop for anything!” Leader bellowed, while firing several rounds at the enemy from both of his fully-automatic rifles. Blake complied, pushing his limits to the extreme. Time seemed to almost move at slow-motion, similarly to a movie. But in this case, this was no motion picture. Several seconds later, the exhausted teenager finally made it to the edge of the clearing, with the rest of the Marines following closely behind.
“Take cover behind those trees!” Leader commanded, handing one of the rifles to Benson as he set the pilot down behind the trunk of a thick tree. “We’ll have to hold out here until the Arizona can send in evac!”
“Understood, sir!” the female soldier called “Simmons” said. “But we’re not gonna last long against those tanks!”
“Private Cannon, you’ve got the C4, right?” Leader asked.
“Got it right here, sir!” Cannon responded, holding up the explosives.
“We’ll need to draw them in to this side of the clearing and ambush them,” Leader said, pointing downwards for emphasis. “First we take out the infantry, then we plant the C4 on the tanks.”
“Rodriguez, radio the Enterprise and tell them to come pick us up,” Leader ordered.
The Marine nodded his head in acknowledgement, and began tinkering with the radio attached to his helmet. Once he was able get it on the correct frequency, he began to talk through it. “Arizona, this is PFC Rodriguez of the 172nd Infantry Division. Python Four is down! I repeat: Python Four is down! One pilot’s dead and the other’s seriously wounded. We’re getting swarmed over here and we need reinforcements!” No reply, only static. The Marine repeated the message, only to still receive no answer. “Dammit! We’re being jammed!” he cursed, punching one of the trees in frustration.
“Left side, left side! Bad guys comin’ in at ten o’ clock!” Benson warned, shooting down any enemy that was unfortunate enough to have their head poking out.
Another rocket shot off, detonating right above the heavily outnumbered troop. Debris came crashing down on the battle-hardened soldiers, causing them to take their eyes off the battle for a brief moment.
“Get those RPGs! They’ll tear us to shreds unless we take ‘em out!” Leader commanded, jumping out of the way of an enormous tree that was tumbling towards the earth.
Another gunshot rang off, and a bullet lodged itself into the soldier with the radio. He yelped in pain and collapsed, covering his wound with one hand to stop the blood from flowing. “FUCK! I’m hit! They got me in the arm!”
“Ah shit! Rodriguez is down! They’ve got snipers camping out in those trees forty meters to the front!” Simmons said, shooting a charging enemy in the head with clear precision and skill.
Leader fumbled for something in his pocket. He ran over to Blake, who was scared out of his wits. He placed a hand on Blake’s soldier, and placed an object in his hand. Blake instinctively examined it, revealing that it was a compass.
“Kid… take this and start headin’ west,” Leader said, with the obvious tone of fear in his voice “We’ll hold off these fuckers as long as we can. Just get to France. I’m sure the UN will get you back home safe and sound!”
“Okay…” Blake replied, following the needle on the compass.
“And kid…” Leader trailed off. Blake turned around. “Semper Fidelis.”
The Marine turned around, swapping a magazine for a fresh one. “Now let’s show these boys why the US Marines are the greatest badasses of all time! Hoorah!”
<><><><><><><><><><>
Blake’s entire body was sore as he forcefully lifted himself off of the guest bed. He groaned, taking in all the pain at once, and shuffled onto his two feet. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the bright light that was shining through the windows. It must already be long past morning, Blake thought, dragging his way to the bathroom. He turned the knob on the bathtub, turning on a stream of water. Once it felt warm enough, he plugged the drain to let the water fill up. While he waited, he locked the door that led into the bathroom and stripped off all of his clothes. As soon as the tub was filled with water, he turned the knob until the stream ceased flowing, and slowly set himself in the warm water, feeling his muscles become instantly relaxed.
Instead of scrubbing himself off with a bar of soap, like he would normally do, he began rubbing his hand through his slightly shaggy hair. He began to ponder what would’ve happened if he stayed behind and fought. What if he didn’t run away like coward, and held his ground?
Those men and women he fought with that day were what true heroes looked like. He’d never seen any soul as brave as any of those five in his entire life. He should’ve stayed and fought with them… and maybe then he could call himself a hero, instead of just some backwater teenager who ran away from all of his problems, especially the ones that were trying to kill him.
<You had to run. You were just acting on survival instincts.>
I know, I know. But because of that, I just can’t call myself anything besides a coward or a deserter. I have no clue if any of those guys are alive or not, and it’s just eating me from the inside-out. I just find it sickening that I didn’t do anything to help the Marines that saved my life.
<All I can say is that you’ll just have to put that stuff behind you now. It’s all in the past, and there’s nothing you can do to change it.>
And that’s why I feel like just committing suicide right now! I could’ve made a difference, or I could’ve made a change. Instead of fighting for those I love and for those that keep me safe, I just watch on the sidelines. I’m just a spectator watching the deadliest game known to man, and everyone I care for is a participant.
<Those were just mistakes—>
MISTAKES?! You think those were just tiny mistakes that can just be looked over?! Because of those mistakes, my family is dead! Those Marines are probably dead! Everyone that tries to help me just dies!
<I understand that—>
No you don’t. You don’t get anything. Even if you are witnessing all my memories from the past few days, you still don’t understand my emotions. My intentions. My decisions. My regrets.
<Please, just hear me out on this. Even though these mistakes may have cost you dearly, you’re just going to have to learn from them.>
No, duh. It’s not like I want more death in my life.
<I’m just trying to reiterate what you said. Stand by your friends through thick and thin. Through the toughest of challenges. Through everything that tries to crush you into a thousand tiny pieces.>
Been there, done that.
<Since you can’t see me, just know that I’m rolling my eyes right now. But you get what I’m trying to say, right?>
Yeah, but there’s one problem.
<And that would be?>
I don’t really have any friends right now… except you… I guess.
<I’m sure you’ll make plenty here in Equestria… unless you want to go home that is.>
What?! You can send me back?
<I don’t know, but I’m sure if you ask either of the princesses, I’m sure that they’ll start researching on the subject.>
Well… I guess that’s good news.
<What’s wrong? You seemed a bit hesitant there. I would think that you would be excited.>
Yeah, but, I’m not sure I want to go back.
<Really?!>
I don’t really have anything to go back to. My family’s dead, so I wouldn’t really be able to support myself. I can’t go live with any of my other relatives because I honestly don’t know where they are. I could quit school and get a job, but I would suffer a lifetime of unhappiness and crappy paying jobs because I didn’t finish my education. But I guess I could start over here, like literally all over again. Maybe I could stay here for a while and find a job and earn the money to buy a house or whatever. I can’t really decide though. I doubt the ponies here would really be accepting of me.
<Are you sure? Everypony here already accepts you. Sure, you would get a few strange glances at any new place you go, but I’m sure word will reach across the land quickly, and you’ll be an Equestrian citizen, just like the rest of us.>
This is something I’m really going to have to think about. I’ll give you my answer later.
<I’ll be waiting, just as I always have been.>
<><><><><><><><><><>
“And then Daring Do swooped in and grabbed the ruby before a huge boulder could crash on top of her!” Rainbow Dash explained, using her hooves to help describe the details of the book she was currently reading, apparently one of the Daring Do series.
“That sounds great, but if you don’t mind, I’m going back to bed. I’m really sleepy,” Fluttershy lied, faking a yawn. Dash had been telling her about the adventures of the famous heroine for the past hour, and everypony was already getting tired of her endless blabbering of how the great the books were. Okay, maybe they were good, but it’s not like anypony has to explain every little detail of what was happening throughout the entire series.
“But I haven’t told you about the time she almost was stabbed by—”
“Oh that’s great! I’ve got to go, bye!” Fluttershy sputtered as quickly as she could, bolting out of the study as far as her wings could carry her.
Dash shook her head and groaned. Her gaze then turned to Lyra. “Well, since you’re the only other pony here, I guess I’ll have to tell you.”
Lyra faked a smile. “No thanks,” she declined. “I’ve already read every book. I don’t need to know what happens, again.”
Dash let out a sigh of disappointment. “Whatever…” She began tapping her hooves on the floor in a messy beat. The hyperactive pegasus then began pacing around the room, examining every object in the study, which wasn’t really anything more than dusty, old books and old globes of the world and old… well, everything that was inside of it was old.
“Why did Twilight seriously suggest we meet up here?” Dash wondered, flipping through the pages of an atlas. “It’s so boring. I bet we could make another run though the labyrinth and be back before the rest of them get here.”
“Don’t ask me, I’d rather be doing a bunch of different things right now,” Lyra said.
“Like what, talking to the alien?” Dash asked, taking off into the air and doing small acrobatic loops. She crashed her head into the ceiling, causing a small red bump to form on the top of her head.
“Actually, that is what I’d like to be doing,” Lyra confirmed, barely able to stifle her laughter.
“Hey, I can see the look on your face, and I don’t like it!” Dash said, landing on the ground devoid of any gracefulness.
Four ponies then entered the study one by one. It’s about time they got here, Lyra thought.
“Sorry we’re late!” Twilight apologized. “The princess requested that I was supposed to meet her this morning, so I got jumbled up with that.”
“And I’ve had the worst hair day today!” Rarity complained, levitating a brush which was combing her hair in its normal twirl style. “It took me hours just to get it just the way I like it!”
“What were you doing, Pinkie?” Dash asked, curious.
“I was baking cupcakes! No wait, I did that before we left Ponyville… I was actually planning a party! No wait, I already finished my plans for that party for Blake…”
“Ugh, never mind. Forget I even asked,” Dash groaned.
Another figure then entered the room. He folded his arms and leaned against the doorway.
“So the princesses have already let you roam the castle without any guards, huh?” Lyra asked. The human grinned.
“No, I doubt that,” Blake replied.
“Then where’re your guards?” Lyra asked. The human shrugged his shoulders. “Then how did you get out of room?”
“I picked the lock. Honestly, I’m tired of being treated like some sort of fancy animal. I’d like to do what I want, when I want.”
“The princess is not going to be happy about this,” Twilight claimed.
“Hey! Did anypony give you the clear to leave your room without somepony watching you?” a voice called from outside the study, presumably a guard.
“Son of a bitch.” The human then took off running.
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Frist
Nice story BTW can't wait to see what happens next
I'm not sure I like the fact that half of this chapter is back-story, but I suppose you have to get it out of the way sometime.
This looks like one FANTASTIC story! MOAR!!!
He needs to kill them all.
Editors note : This is the best story i have every review so far cant wait to review next chapter
Switzerland? Really?
366577
but... Switzerland is extremely stable, how could this happen?
366878 Do you live in Switzerland? I'm not sure our beloved author does either, but my point is, there could be stuff going on we're not aware of. Little problems that only natives would be aware of, or kinda big problems that their government can keep a lid on.
Me being too literal aside, I must issue a complaint.
With your writing style Siege, THESE CHAPTERS ARE TOO SHORT!!!
These cliff-hangers don't feel like cliff-hangers, they feel like sudden stops mid-scene.
I appologize for the random rage, but this kind of thing happening can get really frustrating.
367277
but NOTHING ever happens in switzerland. they are all bankers. really, really good bankers.
367290 And I tend not to trust what bankers say. And if everyone's a banker in Switzerland, like you say...
367302 those dirty thieves! using rockets made out of everyone else's ill- gotten money!
367311 Told you, never trust the words of a banker.
366577 Dude, it's a fanfiction. And why are you angry now, I stated in the FIRST chapter that he was in Switzerland (before he was mysteriously teleported to Equestria).
Plus, when it comes to research I'm lazy. Yes, I probably should've picked a country with a less stable government, but in all reality, it's just a fanfiction and something I do for fun. If it makes you feel any better, you can just imagine that he's in a different country instead. I'm also almost finished with the backstory, so it's something you won't have to worry about once I wrap it all up.
367277 I completely understand your rage. I just don't know why, but the longer I get into the chapter, the more my mind likes to wander off, and it's harder for me to think of things to continue. If I start over with a fresh new chapter, I'll have a bunch of new ideas to continue forth with the story. Sorry, but that's just how my brain works.
368329
oh well, at least they arent a subdivision of china inc.
369122 Maybe I delivered that a little bit too harshly...
I understand about the wandering. Could do the same thing at times. It may be your writing style, or, now that I'm REALLY thinking about it, it could just be how my mind constructs what I'm reading. Like I said, it feels more like sudden stops than cliff-hangers to me. But then again, it could be because I'm really getting into reading stories that have really... long... chapters. Sometimes chapters up to 10k words in length.
371077 Funny thing about China business men. The most popular game they grew up with would be Go, which is not meant for you to aggressively take out your opponent like chess, but to remove all the options they can take against you. Knowing that, come into the knowledge that most of the ports in the US is owned by China, from what I hear.
371311
its a conspiracy! run for the hills!
Damn I've completely underestimated swedes.
380160 *Sad Trombone*
369122
I'm not angry just surprised, Switzerland is the last place I would have expected. Also yes you did state that he was in Switzerland and heading to France in the first chapter however you did not state that it was the Swiss after him I assumed he had been pursued from another country and through Switzerland seeing as the Swiss are generally very peaceful. And just so there is no confusion about my emotional state
I find it funny I'm reading stories where ponies life on a world where winged goddesses raise the sun and moon and a human gets to hobnob with them, and what makes me go "WAT?!"
is the Swiss having a Civil War... 
At least the troubles the Swiss are currently having make this plauseable.
They've been finding themselves getting overwhelmed by Non-swiss immigrating, both legally and illegally. The Swiss have been voting on tougher and tougher laws in recent years to control these Non-swiss -who are coming from less-than-stable regions of Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East.
Given the presense of AKs, RPGs and such, It's the Non-Swiss trying to take the country for themselves by sneak attack rather than an actual Civil War (Similar to the Chuck Norris movie, Invasion USA), but no one outside Switzerland would know any different untill after the shooting is over.
I wonder if our hero would be comforted by the knowledge the baddies are gonna get curb-stomped by NATO, the main Swiss Army, and any other ally nation with large amounts of cash in Swiss vaults...