Грань будущего
Chapter 8
Itwasseventy-twominutessincethebattlehadstarted.Tanaka,Maie,Ube,andNijouwereallKIA.Fourdead,sevenwounded,andzeromissing.Nijouhadhungtheposteroftheswimsuitmodelonthewall.MaiewasfromsomewheredeepinsideChina.Heneversaidaword.Ididn’tknowmuchabouttheothertwo.IetchedthefacesofthemenI’dletdiedeepinmymind.Inafewhourstheirpainwouldbegone,butIwouldremember.Likeathorninmyheartittormentedme,toughenedmeforthenextbattle.
Somehowourplatoonhadheldtogether.Icouldhearthebladesofthechoppersinthedistance.Theyhadn’tbeenshotoutofthesky.Thiswasthebestattemptyet.Theplatoonleaderhadnowordsfortherecruitwho’dtakenmattersintohisownhands.EverynowandthenFerrellwouldfireafewroundsmywaytohelpout.
AndthenIsawit-theMimicI’dfoughtinthefirstbattlethathadtrappedmeinthisfuckingloop.I’dfiredthreepiledriverroundsintoitthatday.Idon’tknowhow,butIknewitwastheone.Ontheoutsideitwasthesamebloatedfrogcorpseasalltherest,buthereonmy157thpassthroughtheloop,IcouldstillrecognizetheMimicthathadkilledmethefirsttime.
Ithadtodiewithextremeprejudice.
SomehowIknewthatifIcouldkillit,I’dpasssomesortofboundary.Itmaynotbreakthisloopofbattleafterbattleafterbattle,butsomethingwouldchange,howeversmall.Iwassureofit.
Stayrightthere.I’mcomin’forya.
Speakingofcrossingboundaries,Istillhadn’treadanyfurtherinthatmysterynovel
