The Road of Good Intention

[Doomguy]

Fighting the way out

With angry crooks with guns baring down on us and little cover or wiggle room, there was a lot to be desired about the situation. Taking a stand would take out a few, but they could just throw a grenade into the room, or shoot us through the walls, or breach from another room and flank us. Even if they weren't clever enough for that, they had a number advantage over the both of us, and would eventually just overwhelm our ability to fight them off. Well, I would be fine, even with the chest wound. Taking on large numbers of idiots with weapons and making it out alive was starting to become my day job. But now I had Roger to look after, and he wasn't quite all there, as I'm sure he was stunned out of fear of if they caught him. Said crippling fear actually worsened his chances of getting out in one piece, but if I had to I'd just carry what's left of him with the rest of my gear.

The first contestant for the Doomguy Power Hour ran in, a skinny teen who looked more like he was checking to see what had happened than ready to attack. An expendable sent in to see if the force they were about to bare was needed. When the kid saw me, I had hoped he'd run away and I could go back to getting out of here. No luck there, as he pulled up the sub machinegun in their hands at the sight of the fully armed and armored soldier in front him.

Before he even had me under the gun sights, I already had my super shotgun to my shoulder, and I unleashed both barrels into their chest. Blood splattered everywhere as the torso was ruined by the rain of the pellets impacting into the flesh and pulverizing the chest cavity. The body flew backwards, slamming into the door opposite of the one he just tried to enter, smashing though the wooden door and finally resting in the empty apartment.

There was a moment of silence as I watched the kid's life ended up the double barreled death dealer in my hands, but it would not last. I reached behind me to grab Roger by his shirt and threw him into the floor next to the wall closest to the hallway. I immediately followed suit, holding the both of us as close to the ground as I could, a nano second of terror clutching me as I waited for the opening volley of return fire.

The entire world erupted into rolling thunder, and the sky above us rained in the drywall and splinters as bullets reduced the room into a storm of lead. The gang outside the room giving us an overenthusiastic 12 gun salute, collateral damage not at all a concern. Holes were punched though everything in sight, the air thick with dust and debris from the rampaging firing squad. Had we been standing where we were a second ago, the both of us would be looking more like chuck beef than human beings. Roger was trying to scream, but it came out as just muffles as I had my hand gripped like a vice over his mouth. I forced him to look my way, gave him the hand signal to follow me, and hoped that military hand signals were mutliversal.

Soon the fire stopped, the clicks and clacks of reloading practically shouting that they were defenseless. I heard the creaking of the wall as someone leaned their weight on it to get a better look in through the new bullet holes, giving me the position of my first target. I reached down to my belt and unsnapped the chainsaw from it's spot and got ready to burst through.

With a single fluid motion I pulled the cord, and the roar of the chainsaw's engine drowned out everything else. I rose up from my crouched position and brought the whirling blade down onto the wall ahead of me, and my good aim was rewarded as a shower of gore splattered across my armor and everything near me. I struck forward with my entire body, the already weakened building material shattering at my weight and I made my way though into the hallway with charge in tow.

Who I killed with my chainsaw didn't get enough time to be examined in death, other than I did a serious number to their shoulder, as I had to act quickly or my window of escape would close. I whirled around with the chainsaw, catching another gangster across the stomach and they collapsed with their organs spilling out into the floor in a pool of their own guts. I stared across the corridor to my destination, the stairs back up to the roof, and the horrified faces of those standing in my way. I could have shot them down, but going through each of them would expose me to fire when the were finally quick enough to reload, and just bull rushing into their ranks would break them apart and get the both of us a head start.

A blood curling scream from the depths of hell escaped my mouth, complimented with the chainsaw revving and reaching for it's next victim, and I ran chainsaw first into the group of criminals. Most of them, still in the middle of reloading their weapons, bolted in fright as fast as their bodies would allow. A few who thought they could handle me stood their ground, though in their frantic reload speed they only succeeded in fumbling their ammo.

One slash across the neck for one and and a jab into the leg into another cleared out everything near by, and left only one obstacle between us and freedom. One last dickwad, how had been hiding in the back of the mob, had managed to get his assault rifle loaded and pointed down at me. He gave a sadistic grin, thinking he had me in his sights. I wouldn't be able to get him with the chainsaw or switch out to another weapon without taking a few more hits , but if I could-

Well, it was something of a moot thought, as I the crook ate two high caliber rounds that whizzed past the side of my head. It seemed that Roger had been following me like I wanted him to, and recovered to a sensible state that he has stopped being a liability. Thanks to his crack shots, we were home free.

----

I'm not sure how far we ran before we stopped, and the only reason we didn't go farther was that my sternum felt like it was going to split in half over all the pain I was putting it through. The alleyway we decided to stop in wasn't the trustworthy thing I would want to hide in from gangsters, but since I could smell open kitchen stalls and hear the stereotypical island music in the streets, it meant we were close enough to the gate that we were in the more patrolled part of the island. Safe enough.

I had to deal with this bullet, and getting to a medic was going to be my best chances for a quick recovery. I could have just removed it myself, and that's something I've had a lot of practice of after facing the former soldiers that Hell had puppeteered from my old comrades, but with access to a professional doctor I didn't need to waste my med kits for that anymore. Not to mention that I was jittery on adrenaline and nerves at the moment, and I wouldn't have trusted my self with a scalpel . A glance over at Roger showed he was winded, but unharmed. The jackass.

"Alright, lets get back to Jones" The operative offered, think he was in the clear. But I had different plans.

"About that" was the only warning I gave him before I grabbed the man by the neck and slammed him into the brick wall taking up the alleyway were in. In his shock he tried to reach down to his magnum, but I had my pistol up to his forehead before he could.

"What the fuck, you crazy- I said you're here to rescue me!"

"I also said I was going to rip your head off, and I'm a man of my word. This is YOUR bullet in my chest, because your boss held back on some info, and I think I deserve some answers. I pressed the pistol into his forehead until the back of his head hit the wall, and I wrapped the finger around the trigger "First point: WHY did you shoot me?"

"I-I-I- look, I don't know what they've told you-"

"That's why I'm asking you, fuckhead. Start answering, or your brain pan is getting new plumbing"

"Okay. Here's the thing: The Empire? Not everyone joins by choice. A lot of us are soldiers that get pulled in from another verse, and we get trapped in their politics. We either fight on their orders, or they throw us in jail to rot. Me and Jones? We knew each other before we were in the Omniverse."

"Great, because I want to hear your life story" I stopped him, jamming my thumb into his jaw "Fast forward to the relevant bit"

"Look, I'm sorry. We've not exactly been on the level with the Empire, and I though they sent you to kill me" Since he actually apologized, an extremely rare thing to get, I loosened the grip on his throat, but I didn't quite let him go.

"Alright then, second question:... you know, nevermind, I don't have a second one. I'll just get them out of your boss I dropped the man back to the ground, and as he sputtered and coughed as he painfully got air back into his lungs, I was walking back to the barrack to figure this out once and for all.