"It's agile but weak! Don't aim for the head!" Nigel barked orders here and there.
The soldiers with net guns kept missing. Nigel, Ate Etil, and Kuya Larn kept trying to get its attention that the soldiers may capture it. But because it's so quick like a spider, those that are acting as bait can't stay in one position or else they'll suffer the same fate as CG or worse... But as for me, I can predict its movements, it's quick but my eyes are quicker!
I forced my way into the crowd of soldiers. I pushed all that blocked my way with the little strength I have and managed to come down the ship.
"Hey!"
"What the?!"
"You fool, what are you doing?!"
"Get your ass back here!"
I did what I do best, I ignored them but also no one really stopped me. What a bunch of hypocrites! I stole a nearby soldier's shotgun, luckily it's loaded, I have four shots and that's all I need. Nigel's right, I'm weaker than all the soldiers in this operation and that doesn't bother me anymore in this situation. I may be physically weaker, slower, but I'm a sniper. I'm Rizal's 3rd best sniper for Pete's sake! From running, now I'm steadily walking and took my aim.
"The hell are you doing?! Get out of here!" Nigel roared.
I ignored him but the thing looked at his way and now it's charging towards him, perfect! Now that the direction of the monster is steady, this is now a piece of cake. My walking slowed and I took a deep breath, almost unbreathing I pulled the trigger. The tiny bullets of the shot gun landed a precise hit on the right lower limb and it has been blown clean off. Everyone around was stunned with my accuracy even with a fucking shotgun. The screams of the soldiers quieted as the tension rises. The zombie let out a cry upon having one of it's limbs amputated. It faced me and roared. Before it had the chance to take its first step towards me, I already cocked the gun swiftly and aimed for its front left limb. Then pow! Two limbs down, two limbs left. I cocked the gun again and ignored the pain in my jaw due to the recoil. Two more shots, I got this! The ugly bitch limped towards me, I guess they do feel pain but not fear. The thing looks angrier even.
"Bitch you're not my aunt, only she's angry enough not to die!" I thought.
I pulled the trigger again and its front limbs are gone. I feel my face getting hot, it tasted like metal in my mouth. My stitches are probably bursting off. One more, one last shot. Bang! Now it's no more than a head and a torso. Bang! The thing's covered in a heavy net.
"Mission success, a live specimen has been captured." Nigel declared.
After this small victory, I suddenly felt sharp pain in my jaw. I lost my grip on the shotgun and my body felt cold.
"What the hell are you waiting for! Medical team, MOVE!" Nigel roared and that's the last thing I heard before passing out.
...
I woke up feeling drunk. I can't think of anything properly. My entire body hurts...? It's like I'm floating...but also I feel like I have been lying down this...this bed since forever. I blinked once, twice, my vision is a bit blurry. But all I see is white...and then...black.
Again, my eyes opened still blurry and disoriented. This time, I hear talking...I can't understand what they're saying...like my hearing is the same when I'm underwater. Then...black again...
This time, I finally woke up. I can finally see things around me. I'm in my clinical room. My mouth and head all bandaged shut. My entire body hurts but my face feels numb. I panned my eyes around and found typical hospital things: nothing out of the ordinary. Then, I hear jerking of the door. It swung open and Nigel steps in with a doctor and a nurse. The nurse checked at the apparatuses in the room before writing on a clip board. She then hands it to the doctor and he studies it before handing it back to her.
"Officer Ogram, I'm glad you're up and finally stable. If it weren't for the bandages and gauze holding your jaw in place, half of your face could have melted. The recoil of the gun caused your stitches to burst off and you could have died of blood loss. To ensure you won't do that again, you won't be able to leave your room without permission from me. We'll be watching you closely with a CCTV camera so you better off rest instead of walking around. Trust me son, we want you out of this bed more than you wanting to leave. So for now, I need you to rest in bed for a couple of weeks, standing and sitting only to keep your blood circulating and avoid bedsores. Your Physical therapist will still come and check on you to avoid muscle deterioration. That's all from me." The nurse and the doctor left.
Nigel then took a chair and sat next to my bed.
"You did a great job in securing a live specimen, you prove your worth as a sniper. But, you're still forbidden from going on field."
My eyes widened, seriously?! I'm still not allowed to go with them after I've proven myself to them?!
"I know what you're thinking Vol, no, you're not out of the team. I can't kick you out but I can prohibit you, I'm second in command in this whole operation but I can't disobey orders that were set up by mom. Instead of being on field, I will need you here to join the ship guards but your duty time will be a few hours shorter, I'll have you train under one of the SS-ranked Expanders. Once mom is cured, then she'll decide what to do to you whether you stay or be sent back. And this time, you can't disobey her. Do you understand? If you do, blink once. If you don't, blink twice."
I blinked once.
"Good, now rest up and recover as quickly as you can."
Nigel stands up and leaves my room.
I was left in my room alone. I couldn't move, I just stared at the white ceiling and sighed deeply. I'm not out of the team, that at least is a relief. Nigel don't seem to be fazed, he appears to be confident that his adoptive mother will be cured. I do hope Aunt's condition will be taken care of now that they have a live specimen to study on.
It took a few days before I was able to sit up again and it took a few weeks to get back on my feet. They didn't allow me to leave my room for a couple of months!! It was hella boring in this damn room, thank goodness they let me play games and watch movies. I can only talk by texting even if the person I'm talking to is just sitting right in front of me. I only got my bandages removed after those two months but I wasn't allowed to leave for another week. The BBF, they barely visit me. The only visitors I get are my doctors and nurses and they weren't even much to talk with, always just about my condition.
The BBF caught both a live and dead specimen and brought in new rescuees. I haven't been told about the other details about how the virus works. And as for Aunt Pheene, she's still the same. Every morning they have to inject her medicine to keep her in a medic coma because surprisingly, they give her the dose to keep her asleep for three months but she'd still rampage every morning.
When I finally got out of that damn hospital bed, I missed my personal bed: it's thousand times more comfortable than that sad excuse for a cushion! Another week of just bed rest, well at least I'm in my own bedroom and no cameras watching my every move. And after months or weeks of god knows how long, I'm finally allowed to train. My PT was in every step of the way of my rehabilitation until she finally handed me over to the guy Nigel told me about. It doesn't even surprise me that the guy that'll be training me is Kuya Danin. To be fair, no one knows the BBF way better than him. After all, he was the team's secondary leader until he retired from military duty and my cousin replaced him. Thank goodness he wasn't as harsh as my cousin, Kuya Danin's pretty chill and introducing things slowly to me. But even if he was...tasked? or maybe requested... He didn't train me for too long, just a good couple of hours, he told me he still needs to work. After two hours of training session, I went to my room to rest because my guarding duty is in the evening.