The Journey Part 4
Posted by Way Siong | | Posted On Friday 10 October 2008 at 12:08 am
The winds are beginning to feel chilly, the darkness is unfriendly to those outdoors. The sun has just set, some rays can still be seen in the distant horizon, residue of the light that illuminated them. A storm is forming, snowfall is fast turning into a blizzard.
Bunked in their buggy, the men held themselves close to their bodies to try to keep the heat. The ride is bumpy, and they took turns driving it towards the city. He looked into the darkening sky and wondered if she could admire the skies the way he is now. In their haste to reach the capital, there is still an ironic serenity that envelopes the surrounding. He wonders what awaits them for the next few hours.
"Tell me, why were you on the train?", asks Lee.
"I have to see someone"
"I take it's someone really important then, nobody travels much in this war"
"I've not heard from her for sometime, I need to get to her and tell her something I couldn't say in the past.", he said, looking down at his feet with his hands clasped tight.
He's not a man of many words, many thoughts forms in his mind, but only a fraction were expressed. He is like a man wearing a mask, always keeping his emotions to himself. Throughout their relationship, he had never expressed his feelings for her. They just happened to fall into a kind of unofficial relationship, tied by invisible strings of understanding. The distance didn't help, she felt apart, physically and emotionally from him.
The two buggies raced across the tundra of snow. Visibility was terrible and the ride was bumpy. In a few hours they would reach the bridge. If the capital isn't warned, they would be annihilated.
----------
The research is progressing rapidly. They've just passed through phase five of the experiment. Soon the weapon would be complete, and perhaps, they could change the tide of the war that had taken everything from her. There's nothing else that mattered, she still feels the devastation from the news.
She decided to retire to bed for the night, exhausted from the endless trials throughout the day. She looked at the picture of them together by her bed, collecting dust. She sat at the side of the bed, taking the frame of the only picture they've ever taken together, and thought about the times when they were closer together. Tears began to stream down the side of her cheeks, she held the picture closed to her chest and cried sorrowfully. It was a heartbreaking moment, the room were filled with an aura of despair.
At that moment, there was a faint knock on her bedroom door.
"Are you all right? I'm coming in"...
Max found her there and embraced her. "Everything will be okay"
She felt powerless. "It's not okay!", and pushed him away.
"Please leave me alone".
"Tell me if you need anything.", he said quietly.
"I just need some time for myself."
She slept that night with the picture of him by her side.
A day later, the weapon would be complete. They would feel her pain.
------------
"Hostiles!", screamed a soldier from the buggy behind him. Another forward scout team had tracked them down. They were good; it was almost impossible to follow their trail in this weather, yet they managed to keep up. The men began to get nervous, they might not make it in time or survive this encounter.
Captain Lee gestured to the other driver to split up, they would stand a better chance at reaching the bridge this way. He tapped the driver of his buggy on the shoulder and pointed towards the left. The driver nodded, they would head towards the woods. It'll provide some cover. He looked back at the enemy. "I see two buggies, they've split up as well. One is following us." Each buggy had a dozen soldiers. They've only got four passengers, giving them a slight speed advantage. The blizzard didn't feel like it's going to subside, at that time, low visibility is a friend. Rockets would miss more.
Bullets begin to zip pass them. Some missed by mere inches from the side of his body. Everyone tried to kept their heads down. The buggy had limited cover and no roof, exposing them to enemy fire. They began to shoot back, but the bad visibility is a double edged sword as they too cannot seem to hit the enemy. They strafed around the woods, dodging bullets and trees altogether. At random intervals, the enemy would try their luck on the rockets, but they would just hit the trees. The driver is good at his job. In a high speed chase around the woods, he managed to keep the enemy back and navigate through the dangerous turns.
----
The other buggy jumped through the foliage into a frozen lake. Ill equipped to move on ice, they skidded and drifted left and right as the driver struggled to keep the buggy moving. Miraculously, the buggy still manages to move at a high speed though control is limited. The enemy buggy in pursuit followed them into the lake. Their heavier buggy however was making slight cracks on the ice as they moved. It was like a dance of two butterflies, chasing each other in circular motion, each trying to get a clear shot at another. Gunfire was exchanged furiously. They managed to kill two of the enemy. The dead was heartlessly thrown out of the moving buggy to reduce the weight.
One of the soldiers suddenly shouted. "They're gonna fire rockets! Are they stupid!?"
The rocket left a trail of smoke as it traveled through the air towards them. The men saw their lives flash before them, thinking that their doom has come.
It didn't.
Their buggy skidded again and it swerved towards the left side. Missing the buggy, the rocket exploded instead on the ice, fracturing it. The enemy buggy noticed it too late and with their limited control, dived into the freezing water of the lake.
--------
"We can't shake them!", Captain Lee exclaimed. Bullets ricocheted at the back of the armored buggy. Occasionally, they would take pot shots at the enemy but they didn't managed to kill any. One of the soldiers saw a small package at the floor and took out a round object, about 15 centimeters in diameter. "What's this?", he asked Lee.
"There's some words on it, read it out", he answered.
"It reads.. erm... this side down." Then he flipped it to the other side, correctly orientating the object and read, "M, I, N, E".
"What's a MINE sir?", he asked, curious about the object.
"I have no idea, chuck it out the back and see what happens."
He threw it like a Frisbee to the back of their buggy, towards the enemy. It fell on the ground.
"What? it's just a piece of junk?"
The enemy buggy rolled over the mine and exploded into a furious ball of fire. It sent the buggy up the sky towards the side, hitting a tree trunk, killing everyone in it.
"WHOA!" Captain Lee says in disbelieve.
The buggy chugged and stopped.
The high speed chase had drained them of fuel.
--------
Bunked in their buggy, the men held themselves close to their bodies to try to keep the heat. The ride is bumpy, and they took turns driving it towards the city. He looked into the darkening sky and wondered if she could admire the skies the way he is now. In their haste to reach the capital, there is still an ironic serenity that envelopes the surrounding. He wonders what awaits them for the next few hours.
"Tell me, why were you on the train?", asks Lee.
"I have to see someone"
"I take it's someone really important then, nobody travels much in this war"
"I've not heard from her for sometime, I need to get to her and tell her something I couldn't say in the past.", he said, looking down at his feet with his hands clasped tight.
He's not a man of many words, many thoughts forms in his mind, but only a fraction were expressed. He is like a man wearing a mask, always keeping his emotions to himself. Throughout their relationship, he had never expressed his feelings for her. They just happened to fall into a kind of unofficial relationship, tied by invisible strings of understanding. The distance didn't help, she felt apart, physically and emotionally from him.
The two buggies raced across the tundra of snow. Visibility was terrible and the ride was bumpy. In a few hours they would reach the bridge. If the capital isn't warned, they would be annihilated.
----------
The research is progressing rapidly. They've just passed through phase five of the experiment. Soon the weapon would be complete, and perhaps, they could change the tide of the war that had taken everything from her. There's nothing else that mattered, she still feels the devastation from the news.
She decided to retire to bed for the night, exhausted from the endless trials throughout the day. She looked at the picture of them together by her bed, collecting dust. She sat at the side of the bed, taking the frame of the only picture they've ever taken together, and thought about the times when they were closer together. Tears began to stream down the side of her cheeks, she held the picture closed to her chest and cried sorrowfully. It was a heartbreaking moment, the room were filled with an aura of despair.
At that moment, there was a faint knock on her bedroom door.
"Are you all right? I'm coming in"...
Max found her there and embraced her. "Everything will be okay"
She felt powerless. "It's not okay!", and pushed him away.
"Please leave me alone".
"Tell me if you need anything.", he said quietly.
"I just need some time for myself."
She slept that night with the picture of him by her side.
A day later, the weapon would be complete. They would feel her pain.
------------
"Hostiles!", screamed a soldier from the buggy behind him. Another forward scout team had tracked them down. They were good; it was almost impossible to follow their trail in this weather, yet they managed to keep up. The men began to get nervous, they might not make it in time or survive this encounter.
Captain Lee gestured to the other driver to split up, they would stand a better chance at reaching the bridge this way. He tapped the driver of his buggy on the shoulder and pointed towards the left. The driver nodded, they would head towards the woods. It'll provide some cover. He looked back at the enemy. "I see two buggies, they've split up as well. One is following us." Each buggy had a dozen soldiers. They've only got four passengers, giving them a slight speed advantage. The blizzard didn't feel like it's going to subside, at that time, low visibility is a friend. Rockets would miss more.
Bullets begin to zip pass them. Some missed by mere inches from the side of his body. Everyone tried to kept their heads down. The buggy had limited cover and no roof, exposing them to enemy fire. They began to shoot back, but the bad visibility is a double edged sword as they too cannot seem to hit the enemy. They strafed around the woods, dodging bullets and trees altogether. At random intervals, the enemy would try their luck on the rockets, but they would just hit the trees. The driver is good at his job. In a high speed chase around the woods, he managed to keep the enemy back and navigate through the dangerous turns.
----
The other buggy jumped through the foliage into a frozen lake. Ill equipped to move on ice, they skidded and drifted left and right as the driver struggled to keep the buggy moving. Miraculously, the buggy still manages to move at a high speed though control is limited. The enemy buggy in pursuit followed them into the lake. Their heavier buggy however was making slight cracks on the ice as they moved. It was like a dance of two butterflies, chasing each other in circular motion, each trying to get a clear shot at another. Gunfire was exchanged furiously. They managed to kill two of the enemy. The dead was heartlessly thrown out of the moving buggy to reduce the weight.
One of the soldiers suddenly shouted. "They're gonna fire rockets! Are they stupid!?"
The rocket left a trail of smoke as it traveled through the air towards them. The men saw their lives flash before them, thinking that their doom has come.
It didn't.
Their buggy skidded again and it swerved towards the left side. Missing the buggy, the rocket exploded instead on the ice, fracturing it. The enemy buggy noticed it too late and with their limited control, dived into the freezing water of the lake.
--------
"We can't shake them!", Captain Lee exclaimed. Bullets ricocheted at the back of the armored buggy. Occasionally, they would take pot shots at the enemy but they didn't managed to kill any. One of the soldiers saw a small package at the floor and took out a round object, about 15 centimeters in diameter. "What's this?", he asked Lee.
"There's some words on it, read it out", he answered.
"It reads.. erm... this side down." Then he flipped it to the other side, correctly orientating the object and read, "M, I, N, E".
"What's a MINE sir?", he asked, curious about the object.
"I have no idea, chuck it out the back and see what happens."
He threw it like a Frisbee to the back of their buggy, towards the enemy. It fell on the ground.
"What? it's just a piece of junk?"
The enemy buggy rolled over the mine and exploded into a furious ball of fire. It sent the buggy up the sky towards the side, hitting a tree trunk, killing everyone in it.
"WHOA!" Captain Lee says in disbelieve.
The buggy chugged and stopped.
The high speed chase had drained them of fuel.
--------
